Should Arsenal's Bacary Sagna stay or leave the club?

Bacary Sagna

Bacary Sagna has been an important part of Arsenal since joining the club in 2007. Since then he has featured 197 times for them, cementing his place in the team. He made an instant impact on the scene of the Premier League by putting in such inspired performances in his first season which saw him be a part of the 2007-08 season’s PFA Team of the Year. Before joining Arsenal, Sagna played for Auxerre and found himself in the Ligue 1 team for the year 2006–07 as well. He is so solid defensively that the fans call him as ‘Mr Reliable’.

Since then Sagna has enjoyed a mixed time period with Arsenal as injuries have kept Sagna out for long periods. Many clubs like Inter Milan showed interest in Sagna and tried to sign him from Arsenal to no avail. Now that he is still with Arsenal and his contract runs down the question is:- Should Arsenal extend Sagna’s contract?

Bacary Sagna has been very solid defensively. He can also play at Centre Back when required and is a bonus for a team like Arsenal which is short on players in defence. Stats show that Sagna has 4.2 clearances per game and also has been dribbled past at an average of only 0.4 times per game. The Frenchman is also threatening while attacking as his crosses do cause defence headaches. He has also scored a goal with a header against Stoke City this season and provided two assists, showing that he can attack well too. Sagna has been consistent and his capable to perform on all levels, highlighted by the fact that he hasn’t lost his place in the first team to anyone.

Player	Clearances Per Game	Dribbled Past Per Game	Pass Success Rate	Accurate Crosses Per Game
Bacary Sagna	4.2	0.4	84.6	0.7
Pablo Zabaleta	2.2	1.3	84.8	0.3
Rafael	3.7	0.9	78.3	0.5
Brainslav Ivanovic	5.5	0.5	80.9	0.4

The table above compares defensive and offensive stats of Four Right Backs (only Epl Stats). From this table it is evident that Sagna has been one of the better right backs in the EPL being good both offensively and defensively.

This season has been outstanding for Sagna has he made his return from injury (a broken leg). His performances have forced us to think that the injury has brought an intense desire to play all the time, and he has done so this season and he has done very well. The Frenchmen also does not hesitate while committing a foul to stop the attack of the opposition when things look dangerous, evident in the way he has fouled Altidore (Sunderland vs Arsenal, got a yellow card) and Suarez (Liverpool vs Arsenal).

Arsenal is pretty short on the right back department as they have only Englishman Carl Jenkinson as cover. Jenkinson is not yet ready to go week in week out as right back for Arsenal as his performances have not been that convincing. He put in a dreadful performance in Arsenal’s loss against Chelsea in the Capital One Cup and was responsible for the first goal. Also, he had a very hard time in Arsenal’s 1–0 victory against Tottenham against Chadli. He is still just 21 years of age and has a lot to learn and is inexperienced.

Sagna can also play centre back when required and cover up for the absence of Mertesacker, Koscienly or Vermaelen should more than one of them be injured. He is part of a rock solid defence, evident from the fact that Arsenal has only conceded 21 goals in the EPL, second best after Chelsea (20). Sagna could even tutor Carl Jenkinson or Hector Bellerin, two young right backs who could learn a lot from Sagna till the time he is with the club.

Next summer, a bunch of players would look to leave Arsenal as Viviano and Fabianski would look for clubs where they could get more playing time. Arsenal’s captain Thomas Vermaelan stated that he would not leave Arsenal in the winter but with playing chances limited for him as Mertesacker and Koscienly have built a strong partnership, things could change in the summer. If Sagna leaves Arsenal too, it would cause problems as the defence would be down to bare bones and money would have to be used for replacements instead of using it for the intended transfer targets to take Arsenal forward.

Overall, Sagna is an important part of Arsenal and he should be tied down to the club as quickly as possible. Finding a player with Sagna’s consistency and experience would be next to impossible. Plus, if Sagna’s contract runs down then Arsenal will lose one of their most consistent and experienced players.