Arsenal: Steven N’Zonzi transfer stakes lower than they seem

Arsenal’s search for a quality defensive midfielder goes on. Even with Steven N’Zonzi linked, the stakes of his transfer are too low to be a solution.

Arsenal nation were thrown into a brouhaha when Steven N’Zonzi flew into London amidst being left out of Sevilla training. Couple that with his £35m release clause and his forever-tie to the Gunners and hysterics were had across the board. Could this be the man we have been after for so many years?

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Let me go ahead and answer that with an affirmative “no.” But that’s not to say I’m just a Leon Goretzka snob who will accept nothing except the German to mend this midfield. It’s simply that we need to understand the stakes of an N’Zonzi transfer.

N’Zonzi almost came to Arsenal back in the day, but he instead ended up landing at Stoke City, where he begrudgingly served several years before making his move to Sevilla. All the while, he was still managing to establish himself as a sturdy, if not temperamental, defensive enforcer.

Now 28 years old, N’Zonzi is not the long-term solution that we are looking for, nor the bonafide first team starter that should be tucked in behind Granit Xhaka. But he does serve one key purpose that has also been eluding the club.

When Arsenal signed Mohamed Elneny, they were getting a rotational player with upside. He was supposed to grow into a solid, well-rounded player that could challenge the first team. That never materialized. Elneny is a hard worker who deserves immense credit for the effort that he puts in, but he has never challenged a starting XI midfield that was ripe for the picking.

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N’Zonzi can do that. N’Zonzi may be 28 years old, but he accomplishes one task – for certain – that signing 22 year olds outside of the top tier of European football cannot guarantee. He provides solidity, he provides true, challenging rotation and he provides experience.

I admire Arsenal’s desire to identify only long-term solutions in recent transfer windows, but N’Zonzi is not that. In fact, the stakes of his transfer to Arsenal would actually be pretty low. I’d expect him to play sporadically, protect late leads, and make appearances in lesser competitions. That does not diminish the role itself. It’s almost tougher to identify players capable of playing that role than it is to identify indisputable  starters.

That said, the release clause on N’Zonzi is rather steep at £35m and seeing as how he was in London to see his son, and his son not being a member of the Arsenal transfer team, it’s important not to get our hopes up. Even so, he isn’t a game-changing signing should it eventually happen.

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If Sevilla are willing to negotiate for less, however, you can bet that Arsene Wenger will be having a conversation with the La Liga outfit.