Arsenal now ‘battle’ Liverpool for £50m AFCON star in January, it’s not Diomande

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Arsenal and Liverpool are both keen to secure the services of Wolves defender Rayan Ait-Nouri. 

Mikel Arteta is eager to add a new full-back to his Arsenal squad this month. 

Fabrizio Romano has already confirmed that the Gunners consider signing a full-back to be a priority for the current January transfer window. 

However, Arteta has even grander plans than that when it comes to the flanks of his defence. The Spanish coach is plotting an “overhaul” of his options in these positions, and wants to assemble a more tactically versatile, and injury-resistant group of wide defenders than he can currently call upon. 

According to FootballTransfers, this full-back revolution at the Emirates Stadium could begin with the capture of Rayan Ait-Nouri. However, the Gunners face competition from Liverpool for the 22-year-old’s signature, and Wolves are said to want at least £50 million in exchange for the player’s services. 

The fact that Ait-Nouri is currently representing Algeria in the Africa Cup of Nations adds a further layer of complexity to any potential deal.

Ait-Nouri is not the only defender at AFCON that the north London club have their eye on, either. Arsenal are also thought to hold an interest in Sporting centre-back Ousmane Diomande.

Who is Arsenal target Rayan Ait-Nouri?

Ait-Nouri has been a key player for Wolves since his arrival at Molineux in 2020. The left-back has caught the eye with his attacking endeavour. He is so comfortable in more advanced areas of the pitch that he is equally adept in a wide midfield role as he is at full-back.

It would be fascinating to see how Ait-Nouri is able to adapt to the left-back role at Arsenal, as Arteta generally requests his player in this position to play in an inverted fashion. This means that the Arsenal left-back is expected to regularly move infield, into the middle of the park, and play like a midfielder in the build-up phases of attacks.

Ait-Nouri has the technical level to suggest that he could adapt to this demand. He would certainly be a more natural fit for the role than Jakub Kiwior, who is really as centre-back, but has been required to fill in on the left at times this season.

Current first-choice left-back, Oleksandr Zinchenko, is an expert at this inverted role, but he has his flaws as a player and is considered something of a defensive liability, as well as being injury-prone. In the long-term, Ait-Nouri could represent an upgrade on the Ukrainian.