According to a report from Football.London, Arsenal are interested in signing Mainz 05 defender Jean-Philippe Gbamin.
Jean-Philippe Gbamin, 23, is one of the most underrated players in the Bundesliga and has gone from strength to strength at Mainz, the club he joined in 2016 from Lens.
The Gunners were showing an interest in the Ivory Coast international in June 2018 and it seems that he is in their sights again almost 12 months on. Football.London claims that Arsenal manager Unai Emery is set to offload Shkodran Mustafi in the summer and replace him Gbamin.
Unai Emery’s transfer budget will be determined after the Europa League final against Chelsea. His main wish in the summer transfer window is to strengthen his backline, which conceded 51 goals this past season. A central defender is the Spanish tactician’s priority and he’ll do a good job by signing Mainz 05 star Jean-Philippe Gbamin.
The likes of Laurent Koscielny, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi are the senior defenders at Emery’s disposal, while Rob Holding, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Calum Chambers are young, emerging talents. Holding is sidelined by a long-term injury, while Chambers got relegated with Fulham.
Mustafi’s erratic performances have continued at the Emirates and it’ll be wise on Emery’s part to sell the German defender and recoup some of the money Arsenal spent to buy him from Valencia a few years ago. Replacing him will be a tough job with the budget that the club has, but it is not impossible.
For Arsenal, a player like Gbamin could make a lot of difference. The Ivory Coast international has excelled as a deep-lying playmaker at Mainz this season, but he is more than capable of operating at centre-back. He is skilful and possesses the ability to drive past the opposition with his flashy style of play.
But the 23-year-old will be signed by Arsenal as a defender and not in the mould of a midfielder. Gbamin’s versatility adds more value to his name and that’ll give Emery a lot of tactical flexibility. The Arsenal tactician will be able to use the Ivorian at centre-back, right-back, left-back or in midfield according to a game’s requirement.
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Besides versatility, the former Lens prospect will give the Gunners a lot of aggression, physicality, power and defensive nous. All he needs the right manager to take his game to the next level and Unai Emery could just be that man.
Arsenal need reinforcements and it has to be the right profile of players. Gbamin fits the billing perfectly at the Emirates, having already shown a lot of maturity and tactical understanding to flourish in the Bundesliga. Without any doubts, he’ll be a fantastic addition to the Gunners squad.