Arsenal opinion: Should Arsenal sign Jean-Philippe Gbamin?
According to a report from The Mirror, Arsenal have turned their attention to Mainz’s 23-year-old Ivorian Jean-Philippe Gbamin. The Gunners have Gbamin as an alternative to Barcelona’s Samuel Umtiti after understanding that it would be difficult to prise a move away for the Frenchman from the Catalan giants.
The report reveals that Gbamin will cost £30 million and the Gunners will find it hard to acquire his services, especially with a number of European clubs behind him ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window.
Arsenal were heavily linked with a move for the Mainz man last summer with a fee of £26 million reported by The Metro. The deal failed to materialise but Unai Emery seems to be back in the hunt for the 23-year-old.
Gbamin is highly versatile and is capable of playing both in defence and in the centre of the park. The 23-year-old has mainly played in defensive midfield for the Bundesliga outfield this season and has been really impressive.
However, looking at Arsenal’s current squad, the signing of Gbamin in the summer makes very little sense. As much as the Gunners need a new centre-back, the Ivorian is not the kind of player Unai Emery needs to be looking at right now.
The likes of Rob Holding and Konstantinos Mavropanos are of the similar age group as Gbamin and have shown real promise whenever they have featured.
Callum Chambers will also return to the Emirates in the summer after an impressive loan spell with Fulham and young Zech Medley has been really impressive for the Gunners’ reserve team.
Arsenal should look at somebody more experienced to partner the likes of Sokratis and Koscielny and Gbamin with just a couple of impressive seasons under his belt is not the answer for their defensive woes.
Gbamin’s addition as a midfielder to Arsenal’s squad is also unnecessary. The Gunners already have Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi and Mo Elneny all capable of playing in that number 6 position.
If anything, Unai Emery will need a more attack-minded midfielder to fill the shoes of Juventus bound Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman’s energy and late runs into the box will need replacing and Gbamin will not be able to fill his shoes.
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Conclusion
Arsenal should look elsewhere in terms of defensive additions in the summer. Spending on Jean-Philippe Gbamin, irrespective of how good he is, is absolutely unnecessary and Arsenal should spend the same on someone more experienced in the summer.