Arsenal: Drop Everything And Sign Marquinhos

Arsenal’s striker search appears to be going nowhere, so they might as well drop it for now and focus on another major need: Defense. Hello, Marquinhos.

Arsenal has to focus on something. It’s rather quiet out there in the transfer world and while it is only ten days into the transfer window, Arsene Wenger is known for getting his business done early. Petr Cech and Granit Xhaka, Arsenal’s only two major signings of the past two summers have come before the window even opened. Only on rare occasions (Danny Welbeck) has Wenger made a last-second signing.

The fact that Arsenal’s striker chase has gone cold means that it’s time to focus on something else for the time being. So let’s focus on defense. Everyone knows a striker and a central defender are vitally needed for a new campaign, especially given the two major lapses in Arsenal’s scheme last year.

That being said, there aren’t that many links to defensive players that have me too stoked. Not like the links to Lacazette do, at least. Only Neven Subotic and Marquinhos seem to be viable options.

But the latter is the one we must focus on.

Marquinhos is ready to take on a bigger role and PSG cannot provide that for him. He makes a good chunk of appearances for the Parisian powerhouse, but Silva and Luiz always come before him the majority of the time and in big games as well. As a 22 year old with all the confidence in the world, he is naturally getting fidgety because their is no end in sight.

Marquinhos is an incredibly intelligent central defender for his age and it hints of a promising future. He is well rounded, with a good eye for snuffing out plays before they get too advanced, but he can also absorb when needed.

Essentially, he can be molded to whatever Wenger wants and to whatever his defensive partner needs.

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As it stands, Arsenal needs a partner for Laurent Koscielny. Gabriel is too similar to the Frenchman and Per Mertesacker is on the brink of irrelevance. If there is no one on Arsenal already that Wenger can see as a viable solution, then surely investing in the present and future with Marquinhos is a solid plan.

Consider the fact that Arsenal signed a very not-ready Calum Chambers for £16m, why wouldn’t they drop £25m on a ready-made, young, versatile centerback like Marquinhos?

I likened it all to Adrien Rabiot not long ago. Rabiot was desperate for a shot at regular football, but Arsenal’s midfield was stacked and the plausibility was a bit lacking. Even though I was incredibly excited about the prospect.

Marquinhos is the same thing. Only Arsenal can offer him more and Marquinhos can offer Arsenal more as well. Arsene Wenger has invested in Brazilian defense before, clearly. Signing Marquinhos and pairing him with Koscielny will prepare him for the future when he will be paired with Gabriel, who is that other Brazilian I spoke of.

Next: Subotic Is Typical Wenger With A Twist

When you’re building for the future, it’s always nice to find someone that can build up the present as well. Calum Chambers obviously wasn’t of that ilk. But Marquinhos is.

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