In just two outings in the Premier League, Arsenal’s defensive loopholes have started to surface already. The Gunners, despite winning against Leicester City in the feisty encounter at the Emirates Stadium in their opening fixture, did leak three goals in their 4-3 win and did let Stoke City breach their defence in their 0-1 loss at the bet365 Stadium. Voices of concern have started to emerge from all the nooks and concerns, and quite rightly so.
The Gunners, under the stewardship of Arsene Wenger, have been criticized for sacrificing their defensive needs in order to play glamorous football for quite some time now. Against the Potters, the defenders looked terribly out of place and clueless for the major chunk of the game and their loss was a testament to the perception that Wenger does need to look into the matter with some seriousness. Further, with the departure of Gabriel Paulista, their defensive depth has certainly weakened.
The Frenchman, however, belongs to the class of managers who lay huge emphasis to scout and lure youngsters with potential to their ranks and help them in becoming superstars in due course of time. Considering their defensive requirements, they have apparently started to move the wheels towards the addition of a blossoming starlet to their ranks. As per one of the latest reports, Monsieur Wenger has put Turkish outfit, Fenerbahce’s versatile young gun Oguz Kagan Guctekin on his radar.
Guctekin has been promoted to the senior side of the Yellow Canaries and his progress has started to get noticed by Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, and the blue half of Manchester have seen their bid of £4.5million getting rejected. Nonetheless, with the financial muscle which the English top flight sides have, a tug of war is anticipated between them and this would enable the Turkish giants to derive a handsome windfall.
One of the most intriguing characteristics which he possesses is his versatility to ply his trade as a defensive midfielder, central defender as well as a left-back. Guctekin has shown notable technical edge and understanding of the game during his outings with the youth sides and no wonder his stocks are rated so highly. It is to be seen whether Arsenal launch a bid better than that of Manchester City, but if they actually rope him into their side, they would be laying their hands on an unpolished youngster who can better himself under Wenger.
