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France U-21 international Sebastien Corchia is being monitored closely by Arsenal as a potential summer replacement for Bacary Sagna. The Sochaux right-back has impressed plenty of onlookers with his defensive and offensive display on the right fullback area this season. Although the French Ligue 1 side are still battling to stay in the top division next season with one match to go, the 22-year-old Corchia has caught the eyes of Arsenal, Tottenham and Lyon. But Arsene Wenger’s influence in French football circles and the prospect of playing Champions League football next season could turn the tide in favour of the Gunners as far as signing Sebastien Corchia is concerned.
Sebastien Corchia(Seen here during his time at Le Mans)is a player Arsene Wenger is considering to replace Bacary Sagna with, time will say if this is another of Wenger’s shrewd signings!
With a hefty transfer war chest being offered to Arsene Wenger in the close season, it is a bit surprising that the Arsenal boss is not going for a more experienced full back like Gregory van der Wiel, or for that matter Lukasz Piszczek. Yet the 5ft 9in Corchia, who holds a dual nationality due to his Italian ancestry, has the talent to fit right into the Arsenal set up. With an eye for pin-point crossing and an affinity to move forward and take free kicks, the former Clairefontaine academy product could just be the kind of player that the Emirates faithful would like to see come the 2013-14 season. It’s almost certain that Bacary Sagna would be leaving North London in the summer and when that happens, there is only Carl Jenkinson to cover that area of the pitch. Even though young Jenkinson has impressed with his energy and pace, Arsenal will be light in quality as far as the right-back position is concerned.
Given Arsene Wenger’s top summer targets being a top class striker to support Olivier Giroud next season, a goalkeeper, a strong central defender to cover Thomas Vermaelen‘s departure and a versatile central defensive midfielder, it looks like buying Sebastien Corchia for a mere four to five million pounds would be considered a bargain in the current market scenario. Furthermore, Corchia is young, raw and talented – perfect attributes for Mr.Wenger to develop him into a classy international Premier League player. 3 goals in 26 French U-21 international games should be considered a hell of a return for a full back. Sochaux has suffered all season, battling relegation going into the last game of the season but Corchia, who joined Les Lionceaux from Les Mans in the summer of 2011, is considered a shining light amongst all the troubles, and to be fair he is the club’s player of the season with his countless important blocks, ball interceptions, tough tackling and crossing keeping the club in the hunt to beat the drop.
Although Corchia is concentrating on keeping Sochaux in Ligue 1, he has hinted that the time has come to move on, possibly abroad. In an interview with French paper L’Equipe he was quoted as saying, “For now I am thinking about Sochaux and want to save the club from relegation. After that my dream is to go to a big club. We will wait and see what happens at the end of the season.”
If there is any notable weakness to point out about this player, it is his inability to win aerial duels and to a certain extent with his height that cannot be a strength always. But what he lacks in his aerial prowess, Corchia balances it with pace, balance, blocking, interceptions and crossing – fine qualities for a possible future Arsenal player. The way Nacho Monreal has settled into the Arsenal squad on the left side since his January transfer from Malaga, Sebastien Corchia’s similar physical and technical qualities would enable Arsene Wenger to add more pace and guile to his team next season. And if Arsenal are to spend the bulk of their huge summer transfer money on a striker, goalkeeper, central midfielder and central defender, a 4-5 million pounds spent on a young versatile French talent might be worth taking a risk. After all, Arsene Wenger is known for investing on youth and turning them into world class footballers.
Stats for Sebastien Corchia in 2012-13 season:
Ligue 1: 33 appearances Goals-1 Assists-2 Man of the Match-3
