Arsenal are facing something of a defensive crisis. Rob Holding has been ruled out with a long-term injury, whilst Hector Bellerin and Konstantinos Mavropanos are yet to return to full fitness. What’s more, the signs of age are beginning to tell with Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal and Stephan Lichtsteiner.
Unai Emery must seek to resolve this fragility at the back sooner rather than later, and may be tempted to draft in reinforcements in this January transfer window.
What’s the word?
The January window is a notoriously tough time to buy quality. The nature of this market is that less players are available and prices are driven up.
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However, the Gunners may have to spend anyway to ensure that their flimsy defence doesn’t crumble completely in the remainder of the Premier League campaign. Buying a new centre-back is surely a must for the north London club.
Emery, and his fellow transfer decision-makers, Sven Mislintat and Raul Sanllehi, can still be smart though. A particularly shrewd move would be to make a surprise swoop for Crystal Palace’s Mamadou Sakho.
Ready for his second chance
Sakho still perhaps holds a reputation for being a clumsy, error-prone defender, as he was in his Liverpool days. However, since Klopp ousted him from Anfield in 2017, the 28-year-old has matured into a fine and reliable Premier League centre-back.
The 29-cap France international was solid again for the Eagles against Wolves last time out, and he appears ready to take his second chance at plying his trade for a top Premier League club.
If a January Arsenal gamble on Sakho were to pay off, it could give their defence a huge and much-needed boost, whilst it would also reflect very poorly on Klopp’s own transfer policy given Dejan Lovren’s latest horror show against Manchester City on Thursday.
