With Arsenal’s current centre-back options proving particularly injury-prone at the moment, we may well see the club dip into the market for replacements in January.
Laurent Koscielny, Arsenal’s best defender for a number of seasons, is still yet to play a match for the first team this campaign, and we have no idea how he’ll perform when he does return. Konstantinos Mavropanos is in a similar boat, with injuries denying him any competitive minutes so far.
Meanwhile, Sokratis Papastathopoulos only played his first league game in two months over the weekend.
If Arsenal indeed decide they need defensive reinforcements in January, let’s have a look at who they’ve been linked with for the winter window:
2Daniele Rugani
- Age: 24
- Position: Centre-Back
- Contract until: 2021
- Club: Juventus
- Estimated transfer value: £19.8m
Arsenal are ‘seriously monitoring’ the availability of Juventus’ Daniele Rugani, according to reports in the English media.
Express Sport write that Arsenal are following the centre-back closely, though Chelsea are also favourites to move for the 24-year-old. Various reports suggest Rugani would cost between €35m (£31m) and €50m (£44m).
Rugani has a contract with Juventus until 2021, and in the past, he’s chosen to commit his future to the club rather than pushing for a move. His agent admitted over the summer that he’d previously held talks with Arsenal over a transfer, but at the time he insisted the defender was happy with Juventus.
However, the signs suggest that’s starting to change. Rugani has really struggled to get into the Juventus team this season, only making four appearances in all competitions, three starts. He was also recently tagged in an Instagram post by girlfriend Michela Persico with the two of them learning English.
With a couple of years left on his contract and seemingly no place in Juventus’ first choice team, January could be the perfect time for Rugani to move on. Whether that’s to Arsenal, we’ll have to wait and see.
Click ‘Next’ for more centre-backs linked with a January move to Arsenal