Former Arsenal man Kevin Campbell has backed the club to complete the signing of Bayern Munich centre-half Jerome Boateng.
The £10.8m-rated German defender is out of contract at the end of this season and reports in Germany claim the Bavarian club will not be offering the experienced ace a new deal.
In an interview with Football Insider, the former attacker labelled the 32-year-old as the ‘perfect replacement’ for David Luiz, whose current contract ends next summer.
He said: “Gabriel and Saliba would benefit from having somebody like Boateng at the club. I am not sure how long David Luiz will be at the club so Jerome Boateng could be that experienced player who helps others fulfil their potential.”
“Arsenal need characters. They need strong characters who have been there and done it at the top level. Jerome Boateng is certainly one. If you put it out to the Arsenal fan base they will say, ‘Oh he is too old.’ But beggars cannot be choosers and we need experience. He is a serial winner.” (via Football Insider)
Is Boateng the type of player Arsenal should sign next summer?
Yes
No
How many experienced players are Arsenal going to sign before they realise that it’s simply not a viable transfer policy? Petr Cech and David Luiz are both players, who despite their FA Cup success have proven to be failures at the club, whilst Willian has been anything but a success so far.
When Cech was signed by Arsene Wenger it was suggested by then Chelsea captain, John Terry, that the Czech ace would win the club ’15 points’. The veteran did anything but win the north London outfit points. As a matter of fact, he put in poor performance in his very first game for the club, something that became a running theme throughout his career in N5.
Then there’s the case of Luiz, who in fairness has always been hit or miss in the Premier League, even when he was winning trophies at Chelsea. In his first season at Arsenal, Luiz managed to get sent-off twice and gave away a stunning five penalties as he embarked on what I can only describe as the worst debut season by a defensive signing at the Emirates Stadium.
And whilst Willian is only eight league games into his first year at the club, his start to life has been far from promising. The Brazil international has completed just a solitary take on in the top division, showing mass amounts of struggle as the Gunners find themselves in mid-table.
Three experienced players have been signed in recent seasons and two, if not three, have proven to be failures. Arteta should be wary about signing Boateng, instead, he should place his trust in the talented young defenders the club already possess like William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
In other news, one Arsenal legend took aim at Nicolas Pepe following the Villa defeat.
