Arsenal
Arsenal Eyeing Swoop For £20m Former Bayern Star As Emery Revamp Gathers Pace
Arsenal are weighing-up a swoop for £20m-rated Juventus defender Medhi Benatia as Unai Emery looks to reshape his back four this summer
The summer transfer window is now open and managers are working hard on their transfer targets so we’ll bring you all the latest gossip from around the globe. Today, Arsenal are linked with Medhi Benatia…
Arsenal are weighing-up a swoop for £20m-rated Juventus defender Medhi Benatia as Unai Emery looks to reshape his back four this summer, according to a report in the Mirror.
Benatia made his name in Italy during spells at Udinese and Roma before joining Bayern Munich in 2014 where he helped the German giants lift two Bundesliga titles during a frustrating two-year spell.
The Moroccan international struggled to hold down a regular place at Bayern and joined Juventus on an initial season-long loan deal in 2016 before making the move permanent the following summer.
The 31-year-old made 32 appearances in all competitions last season and was virtually ever-present to help Juve reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League before they eventually got knocked out by Real Madrid.
However, Benatia is being tipped to leave Turin this summer as Max Allegri looks to bring through some of the clubs younger defenders and it seems Arsenal could offer him a fresh start here in England.
The Mirror are citing a report from Le10 Sport that claims Arsenal are eyeing a move for Benatia this summer and could land the 6ft 2in centre-back for a fee in the region of £20m.
New head coach Unai Emery needs to overhaul our defence after we conceded 51 league goals last season and we’ve been linked with the likes of Stephan Lichtsteiner and Sokratis Papastathopoulos in recent weeks.
Per Mertesacker has retired while Laurent Koscielny is facing six months out following Achilles surgery so Emery needs to add some experience to our defence and Benatia would certainly fit the bill.
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I’d personally be surprised if Arsenal decided to buy both Benatia and Papastathopoulos given they are both around 30, so I’d guess that the Juventus man is being lined-up as a back-up option in-case we can’t close a deal to sign the Greek international.
