Arsenal continue to sign several high-profile defenders ahead of the January transfer deadline. The Canaries are significantly weakened in defense with injuries to Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu, making Mikel Arteta very light in the defensive department.
As a result, Sporting CP duo Goncalo Inacio and Ousmane Diomande have been linked with him recently, while The Athletic have now reported that Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck is a long-term target. Arteta’s coaching staff are also said to admire Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt, although the likely price of both players makes a January transfer highly unlikely.
Football.london reported earlier this week that Arsenal are unlikely to have much to spend in January given the heavy spending of the summer, so loan deals with an option to buy may be more appropriate. However, it seems that Arsenal’s internal solutions are more likely if such a deal is not offered.
The previously mentioned De Ligt was once named the best young defender in Europe, although his progress has stalled somewhat in recent years. The Dutch international signed for Bayern in the summer of 2022 from Juventus for £68 million.
Manchester City star Nathan Ake has previously revealed why his countryman is so highly rated, even comparing him to Liverpool hero Virgil van Dijk. “De Ligt is still so young, but he has played so many games in top football and for the Dutch national team,” Ake told Goal in 2019.
“It’s amazing what he’s doing right now. When you go to a new country and a new club, especially a big club like Juventus, and you are 19-20 years old, there will be a change.
“He scored a goal [against Torino], which is really good for him, but everyone trusts him completely. As you can see, he is a great player.
“He is fast, strong for his age, very good in the air and he is very good on the ball. He scored a lot of goals from set pieces, so he has a lot of the same qualities as Van Dijk.”
