Our deepest condolences go to Brentford FC and the family of Robert Rowan who died at just 28 years old. May his soul rest in peace.
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So we have a few problems: A defence that needs ‘oomph’ injected in it and a replacement for Ramsey.
While many of the players on the list in the video don’t or might not interest us, there are three (3) players that stand out.
Medhi Benatia
The French-born Moroccan centre-back is tied up with Juventus until 2020. Aged 31, you might say he’s a little bit down the road but, hey!, we bought Lichtsteiner. Go figure.
The commanding centre-back has seen limited playing time this season, especially with Bonucci and Rugani in form. And while there’s a lot of noise about us going in for Eric Bailly, I’d prefer a more experienced defender. Better him than a defender who’s been decapitated by Mourinho.
Comparing the stats as at October 13, 2018, of the three (3) centre-backs linked to Arsenal, here’s what we found:
Hover over the infographic and click on the screen icon that pops up to expand/get a larger view.
Though Kostas Manolas (he’s another defender linked with Arsenal since the time of Arsene) has played four (4) more games than Bailly (5) and Medhi Benatia (5), he had made two defensive errors, one of which led to a goal. Overall, though having played fewer games than Manolas, Benatia seems the cheaper and more experienced option.
Adrien Rabiot
Adrien Rabiot seems the perfect player to take over from Aaron Ramsey seeing that it’s inevitable that he’ll leave either in January or in May. Rabiot has played 12 games, scored two goals and made 9 interceptions. And though he seems the perfect box-to-box midfielder to succeed Rambo, something tells me Unai Emery sees Matteo Guendouzi and Ramsey’s heir apparent.
I still want Rabiot though because I see Unai sending Elneny through the door and frankly, Granit Xhaka needs competition. Pairing Rabiot with Torreira would be one to see.
Aaron Ramsey
I’m not happy to see him go but I think he or his agent has been the architect of the contract conundrum that is at the moment. And I’m not sure who’ll lose out of the two parties (Ramsey or Arsenal); Ramsey will not be short of suitors from the top of leagues across Europe, that’s for sure. The question is: Will Arsenal have a player who’ll step up and make the sort of impact Ramsey made under Arsene Wenger? We’ll have to wait and see.
The video was made possible by Football Daily, you can follow them on Youtube.
