It looks as though Arsenal could be about to spend big and bring in top talent Nicolas Pepe from Lille.

The Evening Standard have stated that The Gunners are closing in on the winger’s signature and a move could be just days away.

Now I think this could be a sensational signing for Unai Emery. The twenty-four year old is brilliant on the right wing and Arsenal badly need a top star for that particular position.

Actually back in September of last year I wrote a blog saying that Arsenal should be targeting Pepe and do all they could to bring him to the Emirates.

I’m delighted that the Gunners scouting team have agreed and are now on the verge of signing the direct, pacy attacker.

Now Emery has already brought in Dani Ceballos, Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba. Reiss Nelson and Calum Chambers have also returned from his season long loan deals.

Out of those loanees and returning players, only Saliba and Chambers can play in defence.

Young French Under-20 international Saliba has been loaned straight back to Saint-Etienne, thus the teenage centre-back won’t be available to Emery for the 2019-20 season.

Chambers did play often during his loan spell at Fulham but the Cottagers were relegated, after conceding the most amount of goals in the English top flight. That’s not really inspiring. 

Adding to the defensive issues, The Gunners have released experienced full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner and then you’ve got former club captain Laurent Koscielny who refused to go on tour with the club this pre-season and is trying to force a move out of the Emirates.

That means that Arsenal have a weaker defence than the one they had last season and last year’s defence wasn’t even that great. They conceded a total of fifty-one goals, only Manchester United and West Ham United conceded more in the Premier League’s top ten. 

Last year’s mainstays Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos don’t really fill the Arsenal support with much confidence. 

Sokratis is probably the better of the two but the Greek lacks a yard in pace. I’m sure he’ll be fine if Emery and his scouting team can bring in another centre-half who is both fast and reliable.

Mustafi might be a German World Cup winner but he’s a centre-back that always seems to have a mistake in him and one supporters struggle to believe in because he’s let them down a few too many times in the past. The Metro have linked Shkodran with a move to AS Monaco, I’d expect him to leave if the Ligue 1 side make a serious bid for the twenty-seven year old.

Youngster Konstantinos Mavropanos should be fully fit for the start of the season and Rob Holding should be back in September. Those two will add strength in depth for the central of defence but I still think the squad needs another more experienced centre-half.

I would suggest that Samuel Umtiti could be the man, if FC Barcelona are willing to sell the Frenchman.  

Hector Bellerin should also return from injury early on in the new campaign and along with Ainsley Maitland-Niles should be good enough for the right-back spot. 

With Nacho Monreal getting older, a new left-back is needed. 

The Gunners have been linked with a move with Celtic and Scotland fullback Kieran Tierney. I totally get why, as he’s a young player that will develop into a top-class defender. 

If Arsenal can add Tierney and a new superb centre-back to their squad, then they could be set for a top four place. But they really need to add a better class of defender to the ranks. 

Posted on July 31st, 2019 by scott
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