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Arsenal interested in Unai Nunez, things to know

If reports in England are to be believed, Arsenal have registered their interest in Atheltic Bilbao centre-back Unai Nunez. Here, we will take a look at the one time capped Spanish international who could be on his way to Arsenal.

Arsenal interested in Unai Nunez, things to know

Bengaluru, July 9: If reports in England are to be believed, Arsenal have registered their interest in Atheltic Bilbao centre-back Unai Nunez. The 23-year-old is believed to keen on a move away from the Basque club having rejected a new deal and is believed to have a £27m release clause in his contract.

Arsenal, however, are not the only club interested in the services of the Spaniard as the player has also emerged as a target for fellow Premier League sides like Everton and West Ham and also Italian side AC Milan and French club AS Monaco.

Here, we will take a look at the one time capped Spanish international who could be on his way to Arsenal in the summer if the Gunners can beat the strong competition for the signature of the 23-year-old.

A late bloomer

Nunez is a pretty highly-regarded defender in his homeland Spain but things have not been easy for the young defender at all. He is 23 years of age already but has just 73 senior appearances to his name for his boyhood club Athletic Bilbao. Right now, he is regarded as one of the best talents at the San Mamés who have a big reputation of producing exciting players.

Despite the immense amount of talent at Spain's disposal, the 23-year-old has also earned his first international cap for La Furia Roja replacing skipper Sergio Ramos in the 4-0 win over the Faroe Islands on September 8. Expectations are big from the young defender as he is regarded as the future of Spain's backline.

Physically strong

Gone are the days when defenders were all about physicality but still a certain amount of physical presence is required in order to cope with different kind of attackers. Especially in the Premier League, physical presence is a must due to the amount of sheer power and pace of the English game and Nunez should be able to fit in perfectly in the Premier League.

Nunez is a bit of a blend between an old-fashioned defender and a modern-day one who can be relied on against any kind of opposition. He can be no non-sense if needed to which is evident from his average of 1 foul and 3.9 clearances made per game. And, Arsenal would benefit from having such a defender in their ranks considering the number of sloppy goals they concede.

Excellent on the ball

Nowadays, every manager prefers ball-playing defenders in their backline in order to build from the back. Elegant defenders like Virgil van Dijk or Aymeric Laporte can be a treat to eyes thanks to their confidence on the ball and ability to pick out 40 or 50 yard passes to unlock attackers from the heart of the defence.

Nunez also belongs to this rare breed of central defenders who can hit Hollywood passes effortlessly. The 23-year-old has averaged a passing accuracy of 81.8% and a long ball attempts of 3.6 per game.

In David Luiz, Arsenal do have one of the best passers among defenders but the Brazilian has become even more error-prone than ever at the Emirates. With someone like Nunez, Luiz can be ideally replaced by Arteta at the heart of his defence.

Story first published: Thursday, July 9, 2020, 20:06 [IST]
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