5 players Mikel Arteta could target as Arsenal manager

Modified Dec 21, 2019 10:27 GMT

Arteta is taking on his first managerial role at the Emirates

#2 Nathan Ake (Bournemouth)

Ake has been superb for Bournemouth since joining from Chelsea in 2017

Even if Arsenal bring in Upamecano, one centre-back may still not be enough. David Luiz is still incredibly unreliable, Shkodran Mustafi remains error-prone, while Sokratis Papastathopoulos isn’t getting any younger, and he still isn’t the quality defender that Arsenal really need.

Simply put, the Gunners don’t have the centre-backs capable of taking them into the top four.

One man who could help change that is Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake, who has become one of the Premier League’s best centre-backs in recent years.

The Dutch defender reads the game exceptionally well, and is well-versed with facing some of the Premier League’s top strikers. Arsenal may face competition if they do wish to sign Ake though, with both Chelsea and Manchester City keen on bringing in a centre-back during January, especially one with Premier League experience already under their belt.

Edited by Arvind Sriram