Arsenal’s defence has been woefully short of being good enough this season, and now reports claim that they could look to address it this summer.
The Gunners have conceded 46 goals in 34 Premier League games, and to put that into a wider context, champions Man City have conceded just 25 in that same time period.
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In turn, it’s no surprise that Arsene Wenger’s men have struggled for consistency as they haven’t been able to rely on a solid foundation on which to build and that has left them outside of the top four and fighting for the Europa League trophy to get back to Europe’s top table.
According to The Telegraph, head of recruitment Sven Mislintat has his sights set on Mainz youngster Abdou Diallo as a potential solution to the problem, with Jonny Evans now suggested as a back-up option in a cut-price £3m deal from West Bromwich Albion.
Diallo, 21, obviously doesn’t yet have experience at the highest level, but after convincing Mainz to sign him from Monaco last summer and having represented France at every youth level already, he seemingly has a very bright future ahead of him.
In turn, it looks as though it will be a long-term solution that Arsenal will target, which also seems sensible given Per Mertesacker will retire at the end of the season while Laurent Koscielny turns 33 later this year.
In contrast, experience is arguably what Arsenal need to fill the void at the back, but given Mislintat’s track record at Borussia Dortmund of unearthing quality young players, the club hierarchy may well have full faith in him to deliver another gem or two.
With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan at the disposal of Wenger’s successor next season after the veteran tactician last week announced his decision to step down at the end of the season, attacking reinforcements won’t be needed. In turn, the focus should rightly be on tightening things up at the other end of the pitch.