Can Arsenal Complete Their Fifth Signing?

by Owoyemi Khaleel

Despite news of Arsenal almost clinching the signing of Greek international defender, Kostas Manolas, Goal reports that the Gunners could still miss out on the player. The report says that though the bandied £8m fee has been accepted by the player’s Greek club, Olympiacos, and his medicals done at Arsenal, the struggle lies in the agreement over personal terms between the Emirates club and the 23-year-old. While the report fails to give more details on exactly how much the player and his agents are holding out for and what Arsenal has offered him so far, it said that both parties are far apart in the negotiations.

Earlier this summer, the Greek media refuted claims that the player had already done his medicals ahead of a move to London after and claimed Arsenal though in talks with Olympiacos,  has not reached an agreement in transfer fees for the player as the Greek giants held out for £12m, while Arsenal were willing to offer £8m. Speculations then got more intense, when the player was left out of Olympiacos’ first league match of the season against Niki Volou. But now, this report says theGunners are on the verge of losing the player to another suitor outside the Italian giants, Juventus and Napoli, initially struggling with Arsenal for his signature, Roma. Roma has reportedly identified the player as a quality and potential replacement for Mehdi Benatia.

Since the departure of Thomas Vermaelen to Barcelona, Arsene Wenger had since identified the backline as one in his team that is short in numbers, as only 6 senior team defenders are left in the club. Other than the central defensive pairing of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny, the left full back duo of Kieran Gibbs, who by the way is now injured, and Nacho Monreal; including new recruits Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy, no other senior team defender is inherent. So, when news broke of Arsenal’s interest and almost capture of the goal scoring defender, many Arsenal fans viewed it a step in the right direction, considering that Johan Djourou, who could have earned the central defensive back-up role has made his move permanent to Hamburg, where he had a loan spell last season. Also, Carl Jenkinson, who was a Bacary Sagna back-up, has gone on a loan move to Sam Alladyce’s West Ham United this summer.

This news portends a serious setback for the North London side, which looks to secure a place in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday against Besiktas at the Emirates in the second leg tie. With less than a week to the close of the summer transfer window, a new hunt for a quality defender is a serious time waster. Arsenal would hope to go through the whole of September and probably the whole of the year with just 6 senior team defenders, out of which one of them, Kieran Gibbs is injury prone.

It would be a shame if Arsenal loses out on this fine young defender, as he’s been touted among pundits as not only a quality back-up to the defensive duo of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny but also a major competitor for the top choice slot at the back.