This free signing could help Arsenal with two positions

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal revolution seems to be gathering pace, with the Gunners picking up two huge wins in the last week over Liverpool and Manchester City. There seems to be an identity and desire about the team again, and fans can see what the Spanish manager wants from his players, even if the execution is still a little shoddy at times. However, Arteta has managed to imbibe the club with a lot of self-belief over this time, and has even got the likes of David Luiz and Granit Xhaka performing well, by playing a system which amplifies their strengths while providing cover for their weaknesses. However, there is no doubt that Arsenal will definitely need to strengthen in the upcoming transfer window, and given that they are set to be out of the Champions League yet again, there are questions about just how much money the club will have in order to meet Arteta’s requests. In such a case, using free transfers is a good option, and there is one such player available who could slot in at a couple of positions, making him a valuable target to chase.

Former Nice centre-back Malang Sarr is now available on a free transfer, having not been able to agree a contract with the French club. While it seems like he has been around for a while, the Frenchman is still only just 21 years old, but has a lot of experience under his belt already, having made 119 appearances for Nice during his time on the Côte d’Azur. Arteta has already voiced his concern about the size (or lack of it) of any transfer budget he is likely to receive, and so it makes sense for the Gunners to target deals such as these. Sarr’s primary position is at centre-back, but he is a versatile player, having been used at left-back this season as well, incidentally under the tutelage of former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira, who is the manager at Nice. Arsenal definitely need to strengthen at the back, even after accounting for their recent resurgence. As well as Luiz and Shkodran Mustafi are playing, you don’t need an online betting site to tell you that the odds are heavily in favour of either of them making a mistake sooner rather than later, while Sokratis seems to be completely out of favour. Arsenal do have another talented young French centre-back arriving in the summer in the form of William Saliba, but at just 19 years of age, it would be unfair to expect him to shoulder the majority of the defensive burden. Thus the need for someone with experience and decent playing ability is paramount, and so Sarr fits the bill perfectly in this regard. At the same time, he can also cover at left-back, with Sead Kolasinac looking very error prone and Bukayo Saka’s future probably higher up the pitch as a winger, and so Sarr could be a decent backup option behind Keiran Tierney.

Arsenal’s recent run of form has definitely led to fans being extremely hopeful for the future, but there needs to be some canny business in the summer window for them to start next season with confidence.