Arsenal have emerged as one of the contenders to sign Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt, it has been claimed.
Ajax value the player at £70 million, and according to the Sun, the Gunners have emerged as surprise candidates for the youngster as they look to add more strength to their leaky defence.
Arsenal will, however, need to sell some of their high earners to be able to afford to sign De Ligt.
Matthijs de Ligt: The ideal player to kickstart a new era
It’s probably fair to say that the current Arsenal squad have found it difficult to adapt to Unai Emery’s setup this season. The Spaniard, himself, has also struggled with different problems, one of which has been the lack of quality players in the defensive department.
Even though Arsenal have no less than five central defenders, the frequent injuries to players like Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny, Konstantinos Mavrapanos and Rob Holding has limited Emery’s options in the defensive department.
Sokratis has struggled to assert his dominance with the continuous shuffling of defensive partners. Therefore, De Ligt might be a good option for the club as they prepare to kickstart a new era under Emery next season.
A product of the famed Ajax youth academy, De Ligt is predominantly a centre-back who is blessed with immense technical quality. His passes and pin-point long-range passes have already added another dimension to Ajax’s build-up from the back, with the defender attaining an excellent pass completion rate of 91%.
De Ligt also has a remarkable positioning sense, which is almost necessary for a player who likes to move up the pitch and press the opposition. But, it also allows him to provide cover for the fellow defenders, especially in the wider positions, where both the full-backs often tend to move forward and provide attacking support.
The aforementioned might prove to be priceless for Arsenal, who, much like any other top club Europe, like to have their full-backs operate higher up the pitch.
However, what makes De Ligt such an appealing target for Arsenal is his youthful exuberance as the 19-year-old can not only turn out to be a prudent long-term investment for the Gunners, but also inject more pace and vigour to the Arsenal backline.
That being said, the north London giants certainly need to be swift, and a tad lucky if they are to secure the services of this highly talented defender as they could face stiff competition from a host of top clubs in Europe.
Stat courtesy: Whoscored