Arsenal has been looking for a formidable defender to partner Laurent Koscielny in the past few weeks, being linked to players like Jonny Evans and Shkodran Mustafi. However, Arsene Wenger’s Gunners have been dealt a blow as West Bromwich Albion has set a whopping £25 million price tag on defender Jonny Evans according to The Telegraph.
The 28-year-old Irish defender was signed by West Bromwich Albion for a fee of £6 million last season from Manchester United. He spent close to a decade at Old Trafford before joining the Baggies and manager Tony Pulis is keen to not lose one of his most important defenders this late in the transfer window which would make signing a replacement an issue.
It is no surprise that the Gunners are in dire need of a good defender and a striker after recognizing the two positions as the weak links in the team. However, Wenger’s only notable signing this season has been midfielder Granit Xhaka. Arsenal has been linked with a number of strikers including Gonzalo Higuain who made a record-breaking move to Juventus, Mauro Icardi, Jamie Vardy and Alexandre Lacazette. However, it looks very likely that Wenger will have to settle with Olivier Giroud, much to the dismay of Arsenal fans.
After having a bid for Lacazette turned down and Jamie Vardy taking a U-turn over his move to the Emirates, Wenger also failed to materialize a deal to sign a decent defender. Arsenal’s biggest summer target in the defense was Valencia’s Shkodran Mustafi. The German defender had a release clause of around £43 million but Valencia was willing to let go of the Centre Back for a price tag of £25 million.
Arsenal’s delayed bid has however not pleased Valencia who will have a race against time to sign a replacement as the window shuts in around a weeks time. The club has hence raised the price tag to a whopping £50 million. It is very unlikely that Arsene Wenger would break the club record for Mustafi, which would cost the Gunners around £12million more than record-signing Mesut Ozil did.
After two games into the season, Arsenal has picked up only one point while perceived rivals Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City have 6 points each and Tottenham Hotspur have picked up 4 points. Should Wenger manage to sign a decent defender, he could hope to challenge for a spot in the top 4 but in case he doesn’t it looks like the ‘Wenger Out!’ chants are only going to get louder from here on.
