Daniele Rugani to Arsenal?
Arsenal are set to match the valuation of the young Italian defender Daniele Rugani from Juventus. The 20-year-old defender might not have played in the first team for Juventus last season but he impressed a lot during his loan period at Empoli and is expected to play a major role for Massimiliano Allegri’s team in the coming season.
The 20-year-old has all the traits of being a great defender in the future but is paying somewhere around £15 million the perfect answer for some extra defensive options?
Too much money for an unknown quantity
Rugani hasn’t yet featured for the first team at Juventus and the only way we can judge him is based on his loan season at Empoli. Rugani might have impressed a lot of people but until he plays for a top team or plays regularly, he needs to hone his skills and that would be a risk for any team that wants to sign him.
Arsenal already have a few defenders from their youth system who could break into the team and signing Rugani wouldn’t really make sense for the Gunners, especially since he would take time to adjust to a new league and a new country. Rugani might be highly rated, but that is only in Italy, it is a completely different league when it comes to the pace and hustle and bustle of the Premier League.
Rugani does have time on his hand but the valuation put on him by Juventus is rather large. Signing an unknown quantity for a fresh challenge for such a lot of money is a risk that no one should be thinking of taking. Arsenal might be in need of first team central defenders and unfortunately Rugani is not that player who can slot in instantly into the Arsenal team.
What the Gunners should do is look for someone who can make it into their team and push the likes of Mertesacker and Paulista for the first team. Arsenal might be willing to spend a lot of money but not getting the right player could be money well spent. Arsenal need to spend correctly and they have a really good chance of doing well in the Premier League this season as long as they spend wisely.
They already have a great squad in terms of midfield and attack, all they now need is a good central defender and it could be Arsenal’s season this year.