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Arsenal suffered another setback in their quest to reach the top four in the Premier League this season, with the defeat at the hands of West Ham at the London Stadium. The club now finds themselves six points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, the team which they face next week.
Reaching the top four for Arsenal is certainly achievable and to be in a position currently to challenge for this, must be considered a positive for manager Unai Emery for his first season in North London.
The biggest problem that Arsenal face is the re-occurring problem which has been highlighted many times in the last few years, the defence is simply not good enough. Emery has made improvements defensively for the team, adding Uruguay international defensive midfielder Lucas Torreira and the young Frenchman Matteo Guendouzi has helped the team maintain defensive shape in the heart of the midfield to protect the back-line of the team.
The first and most important remedy that manager Unai Emery must consider is the sale of German international Shkodran Mustafi who has struggled ever since arriving at the Emirates from Valencia.
The German defender has played twenty times this season, and despite chipping in with two goals, the frailties are still there with the central defender, even playing in the back three that Emery has favoured more recently, the former Valencia man still finds himself out of position, making rash decisions and losing his concentration which have been direct errors for goals.
It is reported that Arsenal in this window can only make loan signings, but surely if Emery and the club could offload Mustafi, which would allow for Emery to sign a replacement, and one who could have a massive influence on this Arsenal back-line in terms of organisation and leadership.
Emery has been unfortunate to lose defenders throughout the season, new signing and arguably his best central defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos has been the most consistent member of the Arsenal back-line however his lack of pace is evident. The loss of Rob Holding was a major blow as the former Bolton defender was starting to show his real potential and was cementing his position as a permanent member in the heart of the Arsenal defence.
The return of club captain Laurent Koscielny could have a major influence for the rest of this season, however right now it looks like his role could be as a squad player and play only in certain games. One positive all the same is the return of the highly regarded Konstantinos Mavropanos, who Arsenal fans will be looking forward to seeing back among the first team in the coming weeks.
We have even seen Emery having to use the much criticised Granit Xhaka in a central defensive role this season. Also we have seen Nacho Monreal in the three man defence on the left hand side, a role which Monreal is not disciplined enough to fulfil. The hope for Arsenal fans must be, to see the club make an improvement in this position during this January transfer window in an attempt to challenge for Europa League success and a top four finish in the Premier League.
Moving forward the consistent links with Barcelona attacking midfielder Denis Suarez could be considered a frustration for the fans who would agree the need defensively is far greater than in the attacking areas of the pitch.
The move for Suarez, who Emery worked with during his time with Sevilla in Spain, looks inevitable according to reports. The question must be, have Arsenal got their priorities right and could they be potentially looking to raise money from the sale of an attacking player? Either way Arsenal need a defender and they need it this window as the rest of the season will reflect on the impact Emery has had to the team post Arsene Wenger.
The January transfer window can be a difficult transfer window to get the right players in and the availability of players can be harder to acquire. These are 3 defenders who could be marketable for Arsenal and they could potentially try and lure to the Emirates:
#1 German Pezzella
The Argentine defender has been a huge success since arriving in Italy during the summer of 2017. Last season was the year that the central defender established himself and broke his way into the Argentina national team, only injury stopped him from going to the World Cup in Russia, where perhaps he would have made himself more known to fans across England and Europe. His colossal performances have certainly enhanced his reputation and is now considered among the most consistent central defenders in the world of football.
This season the Florence club gave the captains armband to Pezzella, a role in which he has certainly thrived upon. Fiorentina currently are tenth in the Serie A, and they boast the fourth best defensive record in the league and Pezzella plays a massive role in this. Alternating between a back 3 and a back four, Pezzella is comfortable and assured in any system in which he has been used. His dominance and commanding defending centrally, has a big impact on how the Fiorentina team play, his abilities to lead from the defence would benefit Arsenal and Emery massively.
The partnership Pezzella has established with Vitor Hugo has been extremely consistent and they have a real solid partnership, the prospect of partnering Pezzella with Sokratis as a two man defence would be a much needed upgrade on what Arsenal have to offer right now. Pezzella possesses all the qualities that Arsenal need in the defence and especially to play the style of football that the new manager has brought to North London.
His calmness in possession allows him to build up play from the back and is always willing to take possession of the ball in any circumstance on the pitch. Pezzella reads the game outstandingly well from the back, cutting out crosses both aerially and low, he wins 50/50 duels and with his experience and leadership, he can have his defensive line moving up the pitch.
With his turn of pace this allows for the whole defence to play slightly further forward, a flaw in the game of Arsenal who generally sit fairly deep with the defenders that are available to them. The one-time Real Betis defender would not break the bank for Arsenal and must be in the thinking when it comes to bringing in someone to add quality and a love for defending to the team.
#2 Malang Sarr
OGC Nice defender Malang Sarr has made himself a regular in the French side since making his breakthrough back in the 2016/17 season at the age of 17. The current French under 21 star is highly regarded in France and among the elite clubs across Europe. The talented left sided central defender is expected to make his senior squad breakthrough for France and with his ability, we should expect him to maintain a place in that squad for many years too come.
Sarr has been a regular performer under the management of former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira this season, mostly on the left side of the 3 man defence, and despite the club sliding slightly below the standards of previous seasons Sarr is still showing his quality on a regular basis. This Arsenal team would greatly benefit from a player of this ability, as Sarr would benefit greatly from competing at such a top level club. His ability on the ball is his stand-out quality and would add this to the style which Emery has attempted to implement on this team.
The Nice defender is a tenacious defender, he thrives in the physical battle against his opposition attackers and in terms of power and strength for his tender age of 19 he is a natural athlete, making him a hot topic of Arsenal Transfer News. His ability to take up the right positions is developing and improving, his knowledge of the left back position is there, so he knows when to push out and cover, when he needs to defend on the inside.
His ability on the ball would push the Arsenal back-line up the pitch, something they need to do more often. This Arsenal defence needs leaders which is maybe a trait that Sarr has not yet established but in years to come it looks like he could be a natural leader in the heart of the defence.
Acquiring the services of Sarr would not come easy, as many of the big names of European football are aware of the talented young Frenchman.
Arsenal would really need to offload Mustafi and possibly another squad player to make this move happen should they need to raise funds to make transfers, but this would be a productive and exciting investment for many years to come.
#3 Eric Bailly
The current Manchester United defender has found himself in and out of the team this season at Old Trafford. With the departure of Jose Mourinho there has been a chance for Bailly to establish himself at the club and with the supporters, however the same speculation is coming out of Manchester United that they are looking to sign a central defender. Should this happen, it would be interesting to see if Manchester United would consider selling Bailly to recoup some of the money they paid for the former Villarreal man.
Bailly is a player with enormous ability, he would be considered a rather old fashioned central defender in terms of his physicality and presence in the heart of a defence. However he is a good player on the ball and can build-up possession from the deep positions which fits into the Arsenal philosophy right now. When the club signed the Ivory Coast man it looked a great investment, and potentially it still can be should he regain his starting place in the side. The former Villarreal man can look clumsy and awkward at times, however that does not take away from the fact that he is a world class central defender and one that should be a regular every week.
When Bailly signed for Manchester United for the 2016/17 season, rocking the premier league transfers world, he established himself as the club's best central defender, since then the club has failed to push him on, so maybe a fresh start elsewhere would be the best move for both Manchester United and Eric Bailly. Unai Emery will know first hand of the ability he possesses from his time in Spain and with the speculation of in-comings at the Emirates, Bailly has been mentioned.
The addition of Bailly could be huge for Arsenal, slotting into a back three would be a perfect fit for Bailly especially centrally of the three, allowing him to be the man in control of his defensive shape. The fee however would certainly not be possible for Arsenal right now unless they move on Mustafi and maybe some fringe players. This needs to be a serious interest of Arsenal and Emery moving forward as an investment for future years.
