Sven Mislintat wants Arsenal to sign a centre-back as one of four positions he’s looking to strengthen this summer according to reports, but who are the available options?
We recently covered reports of the four areas Arsenal’s new head of recruitment wants to strengthen over the summer, which you can check out here.
One of these areas was in the back line, as the club look to replace and reinforce a group that are mostly ageing, injury prone, retiring or inexperienced.
So who could the club look to target this summer?
5David Luiz
- Age: 30
- Current club: Chelsea
- Contract until: 2019
- Market value: £25.2m
At the same time as revealing the Manolas links in January, Ornstein also revealed Arsenal were looking at David Luiz. At the time it was possibly connected to the Olivier Giroud deal, so it’s not clear whether a deal could happen without that leverage.
On the other hand, Antonio Conte’s treatment of the defender this season suggests he could leave soon. The Brazilian played just two of Chelsea’s last 20 league games. Part of that was through injury, but since recovering he still hasn’t made the squad.
Add to that his expiring contract, and Arsenal would have a great chance to sign the defender if they wanted to.
Luiz has won most of the trophies available to him with Chelsea. He’s picked up the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Champions League and the Europa League. He’d certainly make an experienced addition to Wenger’s side.
Plus he’s very versatile, and could also help out in defensive midfield if necessary.