Three defenders Arsenal should target this summer

Bengaluru, April 30: Arsenal have been dealt a huge blow in their pursuit to sign their long-term defensive target Dayot Upamecano with the player reportedly agreeing to a deal to join Bayern Munich.

The Gunners have been chasing the signature of the Frenchman for several months now and it seems that they finally have to shift their interest elsewhere in order to bolster their leaky defence.

Here, we take a look at three alternative targets the Gunners should look at now.

3. Ibrahima Konate - RB Leipzig

Dayot Upamecano's RB Leipzig colleague Ibrahima Konate is another young defender who is regarded very highly across Europe. Konate is a few months younger than his compatriot Upamecano and used to be the first-choice ahead of Upamecano last season. The 20-year-old has had a difficult campaign this time around struggling with injuries seeing a bit of dip in his reputation.

Boasting a huge frame of 6 ft 4 in, Konate has a lot of presence at the heart of the defence and is aerially very strong. The Frenchman has played just 654 minutes of first-team football this season but has averaged an impressive passing accuracy of 89.8% this season while winning 2.4 aerial duels every game. Konate might well prove to be an even better defender than Upamecano in years to come and arsenal can certainly consider a move for the young Frenchman.

2. Samuel Umtiti - Barcelona

Once regarded as one of the best defenders in the world at a very young age, Umtiti has seen his reputation diminish a lot in the last couple of years mostly due to injuries. Just 26 years of age, the Frenchman still has his best days ahead of him and can certainly re-establish his reputation if he can bid goodbye to his persistent injury problems. Arsenal should take a chance with the Frenchman as he can really take their defence a whole another level.

Umtiti was a key part of the France setup that won the World Cup in 2018 and it is a shame that he has to find himself on the bench at Camp Nou more often than not. A modern-day defender with exceptional abilities on the ball, the 26-year-old has every attribute a defender dreams of. And, Mikel Arteta should definitely consider a move for him, even on a loan deal.

1. Dejan Lovren - Liverpool

Dejan Lovren has been a loyal servant to Liverpool since 2014 despite the times when he was heavily singled out for criticism by a section of the fanbase and the media. He had his lows at Anfield but never stopped fighting for his place and showed a significant improvement in latter years especially since Jurgen Klopp took over at the club. However, the 30-year-old is rumoured to be on his way out of the club in search of regular playing time and we can hardly blame him for that.

Lovren has been impressive whenever he got an opportunity to shine at the heart of the Liverpool defence this season. The Croat has won 5.1 aerial duels per game on an average this season which shows his exceptional ability in the air.

His passing also worth mentioning having registered a passing accuracy of 85% this season with 3 long balls played per game. He might be available on the cheap this summer and would be an excellent addition to the Arsenal backline.