Unai Emery
ESPN has reported that Arsenal have joined the race for Bundesliga star Ibrahima Konate, with Unai Emery’s side targeting defensive reinforcements in the summer. Football London has further added that Chelsea and West Ham are also in the race for the highly-rated 19-year-old, who is enjoying a fantastic season with RB Leipzig.
Playing alongside 20-year-old Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konate has been at his very best and is having a stunning breakthrough season.
The 19-year-old has made 16 appearances in the Bundesliga and 9 in the Europa League, which includes the qualifying stages as well. But that hasn’t fazed the Arsenal target, with the Frenchman showing his class game after game, becoming an unmovable wall for RB Leipzig.
However, as mentioned above, Chelsea and West Ham are also in the race for Ibrahima Konate which does make things complicated for Arsenal.
But if anyone needs a tall, fast and powerful centre-back, it’s Unai Emery’s side with Arsenal looking defensively very fragile this season. So far, the Gunners have conceded the most no. of goals among the top six with 36, which is 22 more than that of league leaders Liverpool.
Furthermore, injuries have robbed them of Rob Holding, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and even Hector Bellerin which has further played a part in their poor run of form.
However, if the Gunners do approach Ibrahima Konate in the summer, any deal will come with a substantial transfer fee with the 19-year-old recently signing a new deal to stay at Leipzig until 2023. The Frenchman is a rarity in football, having been blessed with speed and strength which does make him a great prospect. He exactly fits the profile the Gunners have been looking out for since Laurent Koscienly first suffered his Achilles tear.
Koscielny has been a mainstay in Arsenal’s backline and even now at the ripe age of 33, the Frenchman is still a key part of their side. However, while his performances haven’t dipped, Koscienly’s ageing legs have left Arsenal open on more than one occasion this season and they need to sign a replacement in summer.
As Ibrahima Konate has already attracted a lot of interest, Arsenal will need to start planning from now for the summer transfer window. This is one race Emery’s Arsenal cannot afford to lose and given that a move would only be feasible in the summer, they should have more than enough money to spend on the very talented centre-back.
