Arsenal To Fight Barcelona For Swiss Ace

The January transfer window may have slammed shut but clubs will still be working hard behind the scenes at identifying targets for the summer, so we’ll bring you all the latest news, gossip and rumours. Today, Gooner Mac tells us how Arsenal face a fight to land Fabian Schar.

Arsenal will have to go head-to-head with Spanish giants Barcelona if they want to land highly-rated Swiss defender Fabian Schar, according to the Mirror.

The 22-year-old has been a hugely impressive figure at the center of the FC Basel defense which has seen him attract interest from a whole host of top European clubs.

Arsenal have been strongly linked with the defender in the past with boss Arsene Wenger reportedly keen on bringing Schar to the Premier League and his agent, Dimitrios Papadopoulos, hinted in December that the Gunners were on the players trail.

“Arsenal? I can confirm we have had contact with English clubs who want to sign him,”

“There is also interest from Italian and German clubs, but we have more contact from England.” Papadopoulos is quoted as saying by the Mirror.

However, it appears we’re going to have to fend off some serious competition with the Mirror now citing reports coming out of Spain that claim Barcelona are extremely interested in Schar and will make a move at the end of the season, with boss Gerardo Martino understood to be eyeing him as a potential replacement for 35-year-old Carles Puyol.

Central defence is certainly an area Arsenal are going to have to address in the summer as well, with Thomas Vermaelen expected to leave the club and current fourth-choice centre-back Bacary Sagna also looking likely to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season.

It leaves us with just Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny to choose from at the back so Wenger is going to have to bring in at least one, if not two, top quality central defenders and Schar would be an excellent addition.

He’s young enough to not demand a first team place yet and can learn from the likes of Per and Kos before eventually taking over, and he was excellent in both of Basel’s games against Chelsea in the Champions League this season. But is seems we won’t be the only club in the running so we may have to make our move early if we want to win the race for his signature.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news

Would Schar be a good signing? Share your views below.