Arsenal are having a pretty good season so far after starting their season with a 4-3 loss to Liverpool on the opening day. The Gunners are now sitting level on points with Manchester City at the top of the table and one of the reasons for them doing so well is their good showing defensively as a unit. Shkodran Mustafi has settled in quickly at Emirates, creating a brilliant partnership with Laurent Koscielny at the heart of the defence. The Gunners look like real title contenders this season.
Yes, Arsenal are doing very well defensively this season so far but there is always room for betterment, right? We have seen Arsenal getting hit by terrible injury crisis since eternity and Wenger should not take a chance and should look to add more depth to their squad in January in order to keep contending for the title. Signing a new quality central defender looks like a safe option for Wenger in January.
English media house Express are claiming that Roma defender Kostas Manolas has recently rejected a new contract with the Giallorossi. The Greek international’s long-term future at Stadio Olimpico looks doubtful now and we could see the 25-year-old getting approached by a host of top clubs across Europe.
Express claims that Manolas is a long-term Arsenal target and they even made a bid for the Greek stopper this summer only to see it getting turned down by Roma. Manolas turning down a contract extension could make the Gunners go back in his hunt and in fact, they should. Now 25, Manolas is just entering his peak and could easily become one of the best defenders in the world in the near future.
Arsenal first-choice centre-back pair right now is Mustafi and Koscielny who are doing really well. Skipper Mertesacker is out with a long-term injury. The other options right now are Gabriel Paulista and young Rob Holding. Paulista has not really been able to make his mark at the Emirates despite spending plenty of time in North London while Holding is just 21 and lacks the experience to fill in the void of either Mustafi or Koscielny if either gets injured. So, Arsenal going for a quality defender makes sense.
Also, we have to take into account that Mertesacker and Koscielny are 32 and 31 now respectively and Arsenal should start looking for their long-term successors and slowly let them acclimitasing to the Premier League and avoid problems in the future.
Manolas is very similar to Koscielny in terms of his style of play. Composed on the ball, aerially superb and tactically and technically sound; the Greek international can read the game very well. His passing accuracy this season is 89% which is excellent for a central defender while he has won 2.5 aerial duels every game this season which proves that he is a force in the air. The Roma stopper has averaged 12 defensive actions every game this season, a figure that any manager in the world would love.
Even though he is just 25, Manolas possesses plenty of experience at the top level over the years and deserves a step up in his career now. Arsenal would not regret breaking the bank for the 27-capped Greek international.
Stats via Whoscored
