Mikel Arteta has enquired about a ‘marvellous’ Barcelona star to resolve Arsenal’s issue

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Mikel Arteta has reportedly asked about Barcelona full-back Sergio Roberto to fix one of Arsenal’s issues in the January transfer window.

Arsenal were dealt a significant blow when Jurrien Timber sustained a season-ending injury on his Gunners debut back in August.

The Dutch dynamo was signed from Ajax in the summer and was supposed to provide cover across their back line.

Since that fatal injury occurred, Mikel Arteta has had to deal with the injury to Takehiro Tomiyasu, who is out of action until some point in January, which has left them short at full-back.

Oleksandr Zinchenko has normally been a reliable player to call upon at left-back, but the former Manchester City man has been a problem in recent weeks and was labelled as a ‘liability’ by Gary Neville in the draw against Liverpool.

Ben White is naturally a centre-back but given the lack of options at right-back, he’s had to fill in there.

Meanwhile, Arteta is open to letting backup option Cedric Soares leave in January amid interest from European clubs.

As such, signing a full-back has become important for Arteta, even if they boast the second-best defence in the Premier League this season.

Mikel Arteta has asked about Barcelona’s Sergi Roberto

According to Spanish outlet Sport, Arteta has shown interest in Barcelona full-back Sergio Roberto.

The report states that the Arsenal boss has ‘asked about’ the availability of the Spaniard and he ‘highly values’ the Barca man.

Indeed, if an opportunity to sign him arose, the Gunners would be in a good position to pounce on the player.

The 31-year-old has played 357 times for Barcelona’s first-team after graduating through the La Masia academy and has showcased his talent across numerous positions.

Roberto would provide Arsenal with much-needed versatility

Roberto is someone who can play as a right-back or a central midfielder.

As a youth and first-team player at Barca, he’s featured on 173 occasions as a right-back and 210 as a central midfielder.

It’s this level of versatility that would make him a useful asset to Arteta as he can fill two positions.

Although he wouldn’t likely be first-choice in either position, he would be on standby if someone was to be injured.

Arsenal’s season was derailed by the injury to William Saliba last season as the Gunners had to call upon Rob Holding to replace him, and this turned out to be fatal in their race for the title.

If they were to sign Roberto, however, they would be acquiring someone who was once described as ‘marvellous’ by Luis Enrique and has the technical abilities to provide cover in central midfield, especially with Arsenal preparing for life without Thomas Partey.