Arsenal: Medhi Benatia nothing more than a Sokratis fail safe

Arsenal’s link to Medhi Benatia is hanging around, but it’s hard to see him as anything more than a Sokratis fail safe, should something fall through.

It makes sense why Arsenal would want more of a veteran presence on the defensive side of things. They were, after all, pretty terrible on defense last year and their veterans were the biggest part of the problem.

Laurent Koscielny was terrible all year, now he’s out for a while. Per Mertesacker has retired. That means that Shkodran Mustafi is the veteran presence, and while I believe in his ability and his command on the pitch, I wouldn’t consider him a veteran presence.

There is a wave of youth coming up through the ranks. We have three U23 defenders that are all very talented and, if Caglar Soyuncu goes through, we will have four.

Related Story: 3 Transfer Sagas To Keep An Eye On

But someone has to be a veteran on that line. Someone who has been there, done that, who can give these young players a bit of a direction when things get tough.

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

That was what Sokratis appeared to be for. The Greek defender was lined up by the Gunners and while I wasn’t, and still am not, very excited about the move, I understand why it is (supposedly) being made. For all the reasons I mentioned in the intro.

Those are the same reasons why I understand why we would be linked to Medhi Benatia. Only, it has to be one or the other. There is absolutely, positively no reason to sign up both of these guys when the only real thing needed from either would be that veteran presence.

Benatia is yet again being linked to the Gunners for £17m. As a talent, he’s great, but reliability is certainly an issue, as he hasn’t found a lot of fortune staying on the pitch in recent years.

All that aside, when you look at the price tag, and how it is identical to Sokratis’, you have to imagine that Benatia is only being linked as a potential fail safe in case the deal for Sokratis doesn’t go through.

There are plenty of reasonable explanations as to why the deal hasn’t gone through yet, but seeing all these other moves completed in the mean time, there is more than enough reason to ask questions.

Next: Arsenal's End Of Season Player Rankings

Benatia and Sokratis together are a pointless roadblock. One or the other has to be chosen, because there really is enough talent on this defense to make the necessary changes.