Since Arsene Wenger took charge of Arsenal, he’s worked hard to ensure that his team is spoiled for choice when it comes to attacking talent. The same cannot be said of his defense, which doesn’t get the same level of attention from The Professor.
As a result, The Gunners are often accused of lacking ‘steel’ in vital areas of the pitch. It’s often claimed that Arsenal are much too easy to ‘bully’ out of games. One thing’s for sure: this team isn’t particularly well balanced as things currently stand.
Think back, if you will, to Arsenal’s recent 3-1 defeat at the hands of a fairly average Monaco side. It was yet another case where The Gunners went into a big game in good form, only to end up getting embarrassed. When Dimitar Berbatov is leading counter-attacks against you, you know that something’s wrong.
Signing Gabriel Paulista looks like a step in the right direction, but I’d argue that the back-four still needs a little more protection. Francis Coquelin has freshened up the defensive midfield area since returning back from a loan move to Charlton Athletic, but I’m not sure that he’s the best Arsenal could get.
He may be better than Mathieu Flamini, but he’s not as good as the likes of Nemanja Matic or Morgan Schneiderlin.
This brings me to The Express‘s claim that Arsenal are still in the market for their long-term transfer target, Lars Bender. The Bayer Leverkusen star has been linked with a move to The Emirates throughout the last 12 months. Perhaps he’ll finally end up in English football by the end of the next summer?
At 25-years-old, Bender is still a regular presence for his current team, but he could find his game-time diminished when Leverkusen recall the super-talented Christoph Kramer from his current loan move.
With that in mind, Arsenal’s (continued) interest could be arriving at the right moment. The aforementioned source claims that his current paymasters will be willing to do business for £12m. That strikes me as something of a bargain.
Let’s hope that Arsene Wenger is finally going to put pen to paper on this one.
What’s your take? Is Lars Bender still a good option for The Gunners?
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