When it comes to defensive players, Arsenal appear to move quicker than William Saliba sprinting back to defend a one-on-one. The speed at which the Gunners have secured a deal for Christian Norgaard after it transpired Thomas Partey would not be renewing with the club to now accelerating talks over a brand new defensive target is quite something.
According to the credible online account HandofArsenal and further reported by David Ornstein, Andrea Berta is holding talks with Valencia over a deal for Cristhian Mosquera. The 20-year-old Spaniard is a key part of Spain's Under-21s squad who were beaten by England in the quarter-finals of this summer's Under-21s European Championships.
There has been interest from many clubs including RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, but the Gunners are believed to be leading the charge at this stage. Arsenal are certainly in need of defensive reinforcement, particularly on the right hand side where Ben White, William Saliba and Jurrien Timber have all suffered with injury problems.
It will perhaps be unsurprising to many to learn that the youngster has played matches at full-back. As we know, Mikel Arteta does appreciate versatile profiles, and Andrea Berta is sure to have used this trait when selling the idea of a move to the club’s manager.
Certainly a proficient ball-playing centre-half, Mosquera would help lighten the load of minutes currently resting with Saliba. The Frenchman is one of the first names on the team sheet, and many have suggested that he has been suffering from burnout, which led to the injury he suffered at the end of the campaign.
Mosquera is competent on the ball, ranking in the 79th percentile for progressive carries in Europe’s top five leagues. He is an accurate long passer, with 68.1% of attempted long balls reaching their target, putting him in the 82nd percentile of defenders for the metric.
He also performs well in one-on-one situations, sitting in the 93rd percentile for the percentage of dribblers tackled, with a score of 77.5%. He commits very few fouls, which shows his proficiency in ball recoveries, 5.15 per match.
This makes much more sense than a move for Jorrel Hato, considering the depth the Gunners have on either side. Jakub Kiwior and Riccardo Calafiori are more than enough depth for both Myles Lewis-Skelly and Gabriel Magalhaes. Add Mosquera to this group, and the side has very good depth in those areas.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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