Arsenal’s lack of defensive cover was exposed towards the latter stages. Now Arsene Wenger must decide now is whether to shake up his back line. The top target for Wenger is surely Per Mertesacker, the Werder Bremen centre back. He has performed consistently in a poor Werder side for a number of years, even turning down a move to Real Madrid at the time when Cristoph Metzelder also joined the Spanish club. Arsenal are looking for a centre-back with experience and they may find it in Mertesacker.
With game time in the Champions League and Europa League as well as 75 caps for Germany, Mertesacker is certainly not short of the experience which Arsenal fans crave to shore up the leaky defence. With the influx of money expected to come from Arsenal’s new majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, Wenger will look to be increasingly active in the transfer market as the summer wears on.
Another of AW’s supposed long-time targets Mamadou Sahko has been quoted in the newspapers such as the Metro explaining he has no desire to join either Arsenal or Liverpool, of which both clubs have been continuously linked throughout the season.
A solid and dependable centre-back, Sahko played for the French national team at Wembley. Sahko seems to be the cheaper option for Wenger, as he has consistently stuck by defenders over the years despite their performances it looks as though only one centre back will be joining the club. Despite his refusal to give any information about his future, Sahko is valued by PSG between £15-20 million, which may put Wenger off due to his inexperience at the top level.
Arsenal have also been linked with the services of Gary Cahill although this transfer is possibly the less likely of the summer as the asking price and value which Bolton hold him at it over £25 million. Bolton themselves are looking to buy during the window and to balance out the books players like Cahill and striker Johan Elmander could be on the way out of the Reebok. This means that Wenger will likely have to pay over the odds for a defender who has performed at the top of his game for the past two seasons since his move from Sheffield United back in 2008. To add to his defensive attributes Cahill has the eye for an odd spectacular goal, which will be one of the things Wenger considers before making a bid for the Yorkshireman.
But as news of Gael Clichy’s proposed move to the San Siro with Inter Milan becomes apparent, it seems as though Wenger may have to be more than prudent in the window to find a number of players in defensive positions. When injuries stuck last season, youth players such as Ignasi Miquel were drafted in to play in the FA Cup. Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou were lauded as a possible centre-back pairing in games up until and after the 3-1 loss to Barcelona in the Nou Camp, where both players played admirably.
However once Johan Djourou was injured at Old Trafford in an FA Cup tie, Sebastien Squillaci, who may not be at the club next season, was brought in to play alongside Koscielny and not always to good effect. These problems means that Wenger must start looking for replacements, especially as Kieran Gibbs may start the season at left back. Wenger has already reportedly brought in Carl Jenkinson (according to the Finnish FA), another target of his for a long time. It is unlikely that Jenkinson will feature too much in the big games next year, so it is imperitave that Wenger brings in another couple of defenders before August as the pressure grows at the Emirates to deliver a trophy for the fans in 2012.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
