Wenger Eyes Dutch International Defender

Despite the transfer window now being closed there will still be plenty of gossip doing the rounds in the newspapers, so we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest transfer rumours. Today, Arsenal are linked with Daryl Janmaat.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is monitoring Feyenoord right-back Daryl Janmaat as a potential replacement for Bacary Sagna, who’s expected to leave the Emirates in the summer, according to the Mirror.

The report claims Sagna is set to be the next big name to walk through the Emirates exit door at the end of the season after only being offered a one-year extension to his contract – which expires in 2014.

The 30-year-old Frenchman has been a superb servant to the club over the last six years but his form has dipped this season after suffering two broken legs last campaign and I can see why the club are believed to have only offered a one-year extension. We have no guarantees he’ll ever return to the player he once was and he’s now the wrong side of 30 as well.

The Mirror claim that the boss is now on the hunt for a replacement and has his eye on Dutchman Janmaat, who has been scouted extensively this season after putting in some impressive shifts for Feyenoord this year following his move from Herenveen last summer.

Janmaat has already broken into the Dutch national team set-up, earning three caps so far, and the newspaper suggests that Wenger is looking for a new first choice right-back who can come straight in for Sagna despite Carl Jenkinson’s rapid development over the last 12 months.

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While I’m a huge fan of Jenko’s, I’m not convinced he’s ready to take over the right-back berth on a regular basis just yet. The problem is, Carl is still relatively inexperienced for a 21-year-old having made just 45 senior appearances throughout his career. He wasn’t a regular at Charlton before he joined and he’s only made 31 appearances for Arsenal.

If you compare that to someone like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, he’s already made over 50 appearances for us and has 93 senior games under his belt despite being two years younger than Jenkinson.

So I think it’s best that we bring in an established name to replace Sagna this summer, if he does leave. My preference would be to hang on to Bac and either persuade him to sign a one-year extension or hold him to his final year, but I don’t see either happening unfortunately.

Who would you like to see come in for Sagna? Get involved in the comments section below.