Arsenal: Benjamin Mendy Ideal Solution To Ever-Growing Problem

Arsenal are being linked with a move for Monaco left-back Benjamin Mendy. The 22-year-old would be the ideal solution to a growing problem.

Arsene Wenger has a particular type of player that he likes to pursue in the transfer market. They are often young, bursting with potential and boasting the natural gifts that can be honed developed, as Wenger looks to grow them into a regular Arsenal starter.

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The likes of Hector Bellerin and Cesc Fabregas have been the beneficiaries of such a tactic in the transfer window, garnering the development under Wenger’s coaching after enjoying their youth football in the coveted Barcelona youth system. Fabregas indeed exploited the lessons he learned, moving back to Barcelona, while Bellerin, still only 21, has been the subject of severe transfer rumour.

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Last summer, Wenger acquired the likes of Rob Holding and Takuma Asano. Neither have the name value that many fans were hoping for from a new signing but both represent Wenger’s continued persistence to his philosophy in buying young and developing in house. As such, when players are linked with possible moves to North London this summer, it is always helpful to consider them through the lens of Wenger’s ideals and his characteristics.

That is where Benjamin Mendy enters the fray. This week, Arsenal have been linked with a move for the Monaco full-back, with the rumours growing stronger and stronger as the week progressed. They culminated in the suggestion that Wenger saw him as the ideal replacement at left-back by the summer and it is a very intriguing possibility indeed.

Left-back has been a position of great strength throughout Wenger’s tenure thus far. However, this season, thanks to a run of horrific performances from Nacho Monreal and Wenger’s hesitance to start Kieran Gibbs, perhaps due to his historical issues with injuries, it has quickly developed into a major weakness for the side.

As such, it is a growing problem that is need of a solution. Thankfully, Mendy is the ideal option. Fitting Wenger’s transfer characteristic as a young, relatively cheap and talented player, Mendy boasts all of the physical and technical gifts that Wenger looks to worth with when acquiring young talent.

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While the full-back would not come cheap, especially for his age and his position, that is not to say that he would not be worth the investment. He is a vastly talented defender, as shown in the two legs against Manchester City in the Champions League and would be the ideal solution to an ever-growing problem.