Arsenal eyeing exciting move for ‘the best full-back on the market’

Throughout the season, Arsenal have been absolutely fantastic, but they must learn from the mistakes they made last year as the title race heats up.

This campaign, Mikel Arteta has stuck with a skeleton of first-team players that always feature from the off, including Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, for example, which has helped consistency.

However, there are a couple of positions that are up for grabs, with the left-back role not currently having a permanent owner.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the Gunners transfer target who could turn the defence into a title-winning standard backline.

Arsenal want to sign a new left-back

According to a report from French outlet L’Equipe, Arsenal are interested in signing Ferland Mendy.

The defender’s current side Real Madrid are looking to purchase Alphonso Davies from Bayern Munich, and they’re not against selling the French defender.

However, if the Gunners do decide to make a move for the talented star, then they will face competition from the likes of Liverpool and Newcastle United. The report stats that clubs, including Arsenal, have been in contact with the player’s agents.

The former Lyon ace’s contract expires in 2025, which means Arsenal could get him for a slightly cheaper fee this summer.

How Ferland Mendy would fit into the Arsenal team

The left-back spot has definitely been a weak area for the Arsenal side this season, and what could arguably be stopping Arteta from having a title-winning backline.

William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Ben White are all irreplaceable players, but Oleksandr Zinchenko – notably called out for one of several “appalling” displays after the Villa defeat – hasn’t reached those same levels this season.

As such, the Spaniard has even opted for Takehiro Tomiyasu in the left-back position recently, starting him against Bayern. Considering he’s typically a right-back, it just highlights that the left full-back area is becoming a problem for Arteta.

However, if the Gunners did sign Mendy, they would no longer have those issues, with the Real Madrid star having an extremely well-rounded profile.

When Mendy originally moved to Spain in 2019, he was “the best full-back on the market” according to football writer Zach Lowy, and he could take that status once again this summer.

The 28-year-old is known for his athleticism and speed, which enable him to fly up and down the left flank constantly for the full 90 minutes, notably ranking among the best 18% of positionally similar players in Europe for carries.

Due to Carlo Ancelloti’s boxed system, the role of the full-back is often strict, with the freedom handed to the superstar attackers instead, which is why some of Mendy’s statistics from this campaign aren’t that impressive.

However, what makes him stand out is how comfortable he is on the ball, as shown by his pass accuracy, touches, and the number of times he loses possession. Sitting in the best 1% of full-backs on the continent for both short and long-pass completion, it would make him slot into the Arsenal setup with ease.

Furthermore, the fact that he’s dribbled past just 0.1 times per game proves that he’s a solid defender, and that statistic would impressively be the best among the Gunners’ full-backs this season.

Additionally, having a full-back who has the potential to overlap as well as invert will significantly improve Gabriel Martinelli, who’s often isolated far more than Saka, for example.

With Martin Odegaard drifting to the right-hand side and White always providing support, the balance of the Arsenal attack isn’t quite right, but Mendy could change that.

Overall, the potential signing of Mendy would be a huge boost for Arsenal, not just defensively but also from an attacking perspective. In short, the move simply makes sense for both parties.