If Arsenal do lose Bacary Sagna, which is beginning to look more and more likely, they will have lost one of the best right backs in world football.
The Frenchman has been Mr. Consistent during his time at The Emirates (apart from a period last year when he was recovering from his second leg break in quick succession – but I think we can let him off there).
He proved just how important he is to this Arsenal side with a barnstorming performance during The Gunners North London Derby victory last weekend.
Despite being yellow-carded early on, he slide into tackles with glee (making sure to time them well), covered space when necessary and stopped Spurs from building anything down the right flank.
Now that he’s 31-years-old, Arsenal are right to be cautious, but unless Bacary Sagna is asking for something ridiculous, I can’t see why they wouldn’t offer him improved terms.
Either way, negotiations have been slow. Now that it’s dragged on this long, it’s hard to see it ending amicably between the two parties.
That’s why The Gunners have been linked to a number of replacements in the transfer market.
Take, for instance, The Metro‘s claim that Arsenal are interested in signing Borussia Dortmund full-back, Lukasz Piszczek. Indeed, a £7m summer deal could well be on the cards.
Beyond having a name that would make Scrabble fans shake with excitement, Piszczek also has plenty of footballing pedigree.
He’s now been at Dortmund for 4 years and has made 142 appearances for the Bundesliga club. He’s won the Bundesliga title and has been in a Champions League final. In other words, he’s the kind of player who would fit in very nicely.
At 28-years-old, he’s not considerably younger than Sagna. They are, however, comparably talented. If this deal were to go ahead, I’d be sad to see the Frenchman leave, but excited to see this Polish international take his place.
It’s sure to be an exciting summer for Arsenal and the priority will likely be on finding a striker. Let’s just hope that Arsene Wenger sets aside enough time to deal with this issue as well.
What’s your take? Would you swap Bacary Sagna for Lukasz Piszczek?
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