Arsenal: £12 Million Makes Benatia A Must Buy

Arsenal are in need of a world class center half. With Mats Hummels moving to Bayern Munich, Medhi Benatia may now be available for as little as £12 million. At that price, the Tunisian defender is an absolute must buy for the Gunners.

Center half is still a major weakness of this Arsenal side. There are huge concerns over the future of the position, as well as significant worries about whether there is enough short term quality to build a title challenge on.

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With Mertesacker and Koscielny, the long time Arsenal starters at the position, are both now the wrong side of 30. Gabriel Paulista has not shown enough quality to consider building a defense around him and should be seen more as a squad player rather than a key member of the side.

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Consequently, Arsenal’s future at the position is somewhat troubling, with a lack of long term options available for Wenger.

Secondly, while there are huge concerns over the position in the long term, the short term picture isn’t exactly perfect. Mertesacker certainly has his doubters and may well have lost his starting job to Gabriel, who is not exactly a wholly accomplished defender himself.

One of those issues can be solved emphatically with the signing of Medhi Benatia. While long term issues will still remain, bringing in a player like Benatia would be a real coup for Arsenal.

First and foremost, Benatia, when fit, has been the starting center half alongside Jerome Boateng for Bayern Munich, and is now only an unwanted player due to the recent addition of Hummels.

Benatia is a top quality center half, possesses an impending physical style of play that suits the Premier League well, has great pace and a decent reading of the game. At 29, he will not be the future of Arsenal’s defense.

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However, for the reported £12 million, bringing in a player that is an immediate improvement is an absolute no-brainer. While Benatia would be an outstanding signing, spending more than £20 million is wasted money. However, for £12 million? That’s value that Arsenal cannot afford to turn down.