Ousseynou Ba of Olympiakos battles for possession with Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal during the Europa League encounter between both the sides. (Getty Images)
According to Sporttime (h/t Birmingham Mail), Premier League side Arsenal are tracking Olympiakos defender Ousseynou Ba.
Centre-back Ba had caught the attention of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta after his standout displays in Olympiakos’ Europa League victory over the Gunners earlier in the season. Meanwhile, Ba, who joined Olympiakos in January 2019 wasn’t a main feature in the Greek outfit until the second half of the season.
After joining Olympiakos from GFC Ajaccio in January, the Senegalese was soon sent back on loan to his former club to finish the season with them. However, since returning to the Olympiakos last summer, Ba found game time increasingly limited due to the presence of four centre-backs already in the side.
The 24-year-old defender was way down the pecking order of things under manager Pedro Martins before things started changing in his favour. Ba, who until December last year featured in just one of their league games, suddenly became a constant presence at the back due to his consistent displays. Ba played in 13 of Olympiakos’ last 14 league outings, establishing himself as one of the regulars.
The in-form Ba has made 18 appearances in total for Olympiakos this season across all competitions and has an impressive 12 clean sheets to his name.
Defence has been a major issue for Arteta’s Arsenal this season. This has seen them slip to a lowly 9th place this season. The Gunners backline has suffered injuries and inconsistencies throughout the campaign. They have conceded as many as 36 goals from their 28 league outings.
Despite bringing in David Luiz from Chelsea last summer and having seasoned campaigners Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi in the side, Arsenal have failed to put up an impressive display.
Sokratis and Mustafi have been so error-prone that Arteta had to rope in centre-back Pablo Mari from Fluminense on loan until the end of the season. With the side’s defensive woes clearly out in the open, signing an in-form man such as Ba will only help them.
Hence, Arsenal must up their interests in the €20million-rated Olympiakos defender and land him soon.
Despite having five centre-backs, Arsenal have suffered in the league this season. Considering’s Ba’s consistent displays for Olympiakos in recent times, the Senegalese ace would help a struggling Arsenal. Also, with veterans Luiz and Sokratis already past their thirties, the Gunners could do with a young defender like Ba.
