Arsenal Opinion: Why the Gunners should go for Presnel Kimpembe?
According to a report from French news-site SoccerLink, Arsenal have been in contact with Paris Saint-Germain defender Presnel Kimpembe’s dad in the hope of signing the French defender.
Presnel Kimpembe, 23, was in and out of the PSG team last season with Thiago Silva and Marquinhos usually preferred at centre-half. His season, however, was brought to a premature end as the defender underwent surgery on a troublesome groin injury last month.
Arsenal are not the only Premier League club interested in securing Kimpembe’s services. The likes of Manchester United and Chelsea are also keen on the 23-year-old, who managed only 24 Ligue 1 games in the 2018/19 campaign.
Manchester United have defensive problems of their own but it is Arsenal who should win the race for Kimpembe’s signature.
Unai Emery will have a limited budget to spend in the ongoing summer transfer window due to his team’s failure to achieve Champions League football next season. Thus, he’ll have to recruit smartly in order to address as many areas as possible. One such worrisome area is the defence, which the Spanish tactician failed to solve in his debut season at the Emirates.
Apart from Sokratis Papastathopoulos, none of Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny or Nacho Monreal were consistent at the back. Rob Holding showed a lot of promise and was close to nailing down a regular place in Emery’s starting XI, only for a knee injury to disrupt his campaign.
Calum Chambers has returned from his loan spell at Fulham and despite him being an option, a new central defender is required if the North London giants are to compete on all fronts next term.
Thus, the Gunners will take a step in the right direction by making a move for Kimpembe, who is well known to Emery after breaking through during the Spaniard’s reign at PSG.
A technically-gifted central defender, Kimpembe can also play at left-back when required.
He is a ball-playing centre-half, who likes to come out of his line with the ball and make a quick pass forward to one of his teammates. The seven-cap France international is also good in the air and has a good turn of pace through the ground that helps him make recovery runs.
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Having conceded over 50 goals in the last two Premier League campaigns, a 23-year-old with bags of potential and Champions League experience might be an invaluable addition to the squad of the Europa League runners up.
Verdict
A new central defender is a no-brainer for Arsenal and if Kimpembe arrives at the Emirates this summer, he would surely walk into Emery’s starting XI.
