Arsenal: Umtiti, Bartra Moves Open Door For Subotic

Samuel Umtiti to Barcelona, and Marc Bartra moves to Dortmund. Will Dortmund’s Neven Subotic be headed to Arsenal after new arrivals in central defense?

Marc Bartra’s 8 million pound move to Borussia Dortmund was confirmed prior to the start of EURO 2016, but it flew largely under the radar. Not many people connected that story with the rumors about Olympique Lyon’s Samuel Umtiti moving to the Camp Nou – which was confirmed on July 12 by FC Barcelona.

Related Story: 5 Players Set For Career Defining Season

Even fewer wondered what might happen to Borussia Dortmund’s center backs. Mats Hummels’ move to Bayern Munich was already confirmed prior to the start of the transfer window, and German defender Matthias Ginter spent last season learning to play right back.

Dortmund were short of central defenders after Serbian center half Neven Subotic suffered a season-ending injury at the end of March in Der Klassiker. Subotic has since recovered from this injury and had a long rest after Serbia’s failure to qualify for EURO 2016, but his future could now be uncertain after Bartra’s arrival.

Sokratis Papastathopolous was Hummels’ standard partner at the back for the 2015/16 Bundesliga season, and Subotic is now 27 years old with his place in the pecking order at the Signal-Iduna Park seemingly confined to being just a rotation player.

This, of course, opens the door for Arsenal to potentially sneak in and get a top-level defender for a cut price. Subotic has been at Dortmund for eight seasons now and he was always in the shadow of Mats Hummels, but it is definitely unclear as to who will be BVB’s new team leader from the back.

Subotic, in fact, only made  eight starts (three of which were clean sheets, interestingly) in 2015/16. That number may have been low due to fitness issues, but the Serbian international has most likely had conversations with Thomas Tuchel about his role going forward – especially with Subotic already 27 and probably only ready for Champions League level football for three or four more years.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 observations from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park

Arsenal are definitely in need of an extra center back. We’ve seen time and time again the risk that Premier League teams take by only having three first team center backs going into a season, especially when they are involved in European competition.

Subotic won’t be the most expensive player in Europe to buy due to his lower amount of appearances than most center backs, but there’s no reason he shouldn’t be gambled on by Arsenal considering his past record for BVB.

In their previous campaign, the final one under Jurgen Klopp, the 26-year-old made 31 first team appearances across all competitions with an average match rating of 7.25. In his 28 total appearances in the Bundesliga Subotic won 4.8 aerial duels per match, highest among all Bundesliga defenders that season apart from Jerome Boateng.

Next: Bellerin Turning Into Glorious Afterthought

Subotic’s agent told fans nearly a month ago that he was “scouting the market” in an effort to find a new club. Arsenal would be silly to not at least submit an offer, although Middlesbrough look to be on the front foot. The Serbian international has proven himself far too good (he’s beaten Arsenal twice in the Champions League) to be overlooked as just an injury-prone player. The Premier League brings the best out of many, as we’ve all seen with N’Golo Kante.