According to the Mirror, Premier League and England legend Rio Ferdinand has suggested that Arsenal should avoid a potential move for Real Madrid’s Luka Jovic in the next transfer window.
Ferdinand gave his thoughts on Arsenal’s reported move for the Los Blancos striker during an Instagram Live session. Jovic has struggled since joining Los Blancos last summer for an initial fee of €65m, as per the Guardian.
The retired England international believes that Jovic would ‘add something to Arsenal’ but that the Gunners don’t ‘need’ a striker, suggesting that the north London outfit focus their efforts on signing ‘centre-halves’.
Arsenal fans will be excited to learn that Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has recently claimed that the Gunners are ‘working’ on signing a centre-back ahead of next season.
Ferdinand stressed that Arsenal ‘need to get it right in other areas of the pitch’ before considering moves for more attackers like Jovic.
Here’s what Ferdinand had to make of Arsenal’s reported interest in the Serbian striker:
“He is someone who could add something to Arsenal but I don’t think Arsenal need a player in that position,”
“Arsenal need centre-halves. They need centre-halves who can defend and play as well. I played against Arsenal teams with the likes of Sol Campbell and Tony Adams.”
“I don’t see that now. They have many good footballers but you need a blend.”
“Why are they going for Jovic when they need to be looking at centre-halves? Arsenal is a fantastic club, what a club. But they need to get it right in other areas of the pitch.”
Jovic was phenomenal with Eintracht Frankfurt last season, but the 22-year-old has really struggled to make an impact during his first season at Madrid.
The Serbian has managed just two goals and two assists in 24 appearances across all competitions for Zinedine Zidane’s side this season, the forward has only started in 30% of these outings.
Arsenal have looked more than capable in attack over the last year, the side’s shortcomings are in defence and midfield, fortunately Mikel Arteta has managed to improve in these areas since taking over – giving the Gunners an outside chance of qualifying for the Champions League if this season is resumed.