Top 3 defensive targets for Unai Emery at Arsenal

The post-Wenger transition at Arsenal has kicked-off and is well underway. Unai Emery and his head scout Sven Mislintat have been tasked with the tough job of operating in a heavily inflated market and still bringing in the best players to make Arsenal a top 4 club in England.

Stephan Lichtsteiner has moved to Arsenal on a free transfer after 7 years at Juventus, where he won seven consecutive Scudettos. Lichtsteiner is a typical Arsenal move, bringing in a wealth of quality and experience at zero cost.

Emery and Mislintat are still looking for defensive reinforcements in the transfer market. This is primarily because the massively experienced Per Mertesacker is retiring and will not be available next season. Laurent Koscielny, the club's captain, sustained a ruptured achilles tendon against Atletico Madrid and is estimated to miss six months of action.

Shkodran Mustafi was almost sold to Inter Milan in the previous window, but the German has remained at the North London club. He is yet to nail down a spot for himself in the starting eleven. This was due to a rather error prone season at Arsenal.

Calum Chambers and Rob Holding have great potential to become regulars at Arsenal, especially given how the former's performances have been this season. Konstantinos Mavropanos is another young defender who has the potential to succeed at Arsenal if his performances so far are anything to go by, but these 3 youngsters neither possess the quality nor experience to keep Premier League oppositions from scoring.

Emery and Mislintat are on the lookout for a solid central defender or two to help Arsenal plug the defensive gaps in their side.

Here's a look at three potential targets.

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#1 Lukas Klostermann

Klostermann is a versatile defensive target for Emery

Lukas Klostermann is a 22-year old German who plays as a defender for RB Leipzig. Klostermann is young but experienced player. He has played 74 times for RB Leipzig across the defensive line.

Klostermann is a very versatile defender who is capable of playing at both full back positions and also at central defense. He is strong but also possesses a quick burst of pace, which will definitely help in adjusting to the pace of English football.

Klostermann's experience along with his age is a rare combination. Add to this, the fact that he is versatile enough to be deployed anywhere in the back four, and we can see why the young German has caught the eye of Emery.

Klostermann would be an astute addition, as he would join a young crop of defenders Arsenal already possesses and push them to work harder and grow.

#2 Benjamin Pavard

Pavard will be heading to the World Cup with France

Benjamin Pavard is another 22-year old defender who plays as a center back for VfB Stuttgart. The young Frenchman is also well experienced like Klostermann. Pavard played every single minute in the Bundesliga for Stuttgart last season.

Pavard has mentioned that he would like to join the Gunners, according to Calcio Insider, favoring Arsenal over Borussia Dortmund, who will be eligible to play UEFA Champions League football next season, but Arsenal would have to part with a little over £50 million to bring the young French defender to North London.

Pavard will be a good young defender for Arsenal to buy, but his price tag is a bit too much to make a quick-fire move for him. Arsenal might have to sell a defender on before making a move for Pavard. Mustafi might be the likely collateral damage.

#3 Sokratis Papastathopoulos

Sokratis to Arsenal is apparently almost a done deal

A deal for Sokratis is more a matter of when than if. His father announced that Sokratis had favored a move to Arsenal over Manchester United but the deal is yet to be confirmed officially by Arsenal.

Sokratis signed for Dortmund in 2013 and has grown into a solid and reliable defender. Sokratis inherited the mantle of a defensive leader from a departing Mats Hummels and has settled into that role effortlessly.

The Greek center back is an experienced player who might just be what Arsenal needs to rectify their leaky defense which conceded a whopping 51 goals, the highest amount conceded by a top six club last season.