Plenty of Arsenal fans are excited about the prospect of Dayot Upamecano joining the club and partnering William Saliba next season.
This follows a report from the Daily Star that suggests Arsenal could launch a loan move to sign Jerome Boateng before making a £50 million bid to sign Upamecano from RB Leipzig in the summer.
The report states that those behind the scenes at the Emirates are confident that by pairing the two together, they can finally solve their defensive problems.
These Arsenal fans on social media also appear to be quite excited by the prospect.
Twitter: @afcstuff @AJ_Wood15 Imagine next season that we have saliba. upamecano, and holding as a back up rolling competiti… https://t.co/0Az8w7iHsk (@sonofthranduill)
Twitter: @afcstuff @AJ_Wood15 What we need 😍😍😍 (@holerdimeji)
Twitter: @afcstuff @AJ_Wood15 Thats what I want to see…a French wall💪💪 (@DiegoMwesigwa)
Twitter: @afcstuff @AJ_Wood15 Please do so @Arsenal (@iam_lakeswaggs)
Twitter: @afcstuff @AJ_Wood15 I pray (@Goonerjames_)
Twitter: @afcstuff @AJ_Wood15 Tears in my eyes. Upamecano+Saliba> van dijk+ gomez (@connorpeckham)
Read Arsenal verdict
No team inside the Premier League’s top half have conceded more goals than Arsenal this season, so it’s easy to see why these fans are hoping to see some defensive reinforcements come in.
Compared by the Mirror to Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane, Saliba is said to be one of the most exciting young defenders in Europe and Arsenal will be able to call upon him from next season. However, we believe that the Gunners should consider finding him a suitable defensive partner if they want to solve their defensive woes.
This is where Upamecano comes into the equation and the 21-year-old could be another great long-term option for the Gunners. He has established himself as one of the better Bundesliga defenders this season, with WhoScored awarding him an average match rating of 7.22.
A deeper dive into his statistics this season shows that he averages 2.5 tackles a game, a figure higher than both David Luiz (1) and Sokratis (1.3) – while he also gives away fewer fouls per game than the current Arsenal duo at 0.8 per 90 minutes (WhoScored).
The stats suggest that Upamecano could be an upgrade for the Gunners and at 21, there’s potential for him to develop into a long-term solution for the club at the back.
