Sven Mislintat wants Arsenal to sign a defensive midfielder as one of four positions he’s looking to strengthen this summer according to reports, but who should he buy?
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 midfield. Arsene Wenger sold Francis Coquelin in January, further depleting an already sparse array of options. Although Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny are showing signs of improvement, Arsenal still need to invest in the summer.
So who could the club look to target?
4Fabinho
- Age: 24
- Current club: Monaco
- Contract until: 2021
- Market value: £36m
Fabinho is another player who has been linked with Arsenal a fair amount in the past. The media reported that the club joined Atletico Madrid and Manchester United in following him last summer.
In the end though, Monaco had already sold a number of players for a large profit, so they were under no pressure to offload another.
Nonetheless, Fabinho is still young, and he’s having another great season with the French side. He’s scored seven goals and assisted five, despite largely playing as a defensive midfielder.
The Brazilian is strong in the tackle and in the air, and isn’t easy to knock off the ball. He can also play an accurate pass, and creates chances well when he gets up the pitch. He’s also versatile, having played at right-back before in the past.
He’d be well worth a bid this summer, but there’d probably be competition for his signature.