Arsenal: Once you go Matthijs De Ligt, you never go back

Arsenal almost certainly need defensive help, but once you start talking about Matthijs De Ligt, there is literally no turning back.

Here’s a fun fact. Well, maybe not so much “fun” as… I don’t know, anyway. If you were to ask me who the No. 1 dream defender for Arsenal is, I would say, going back about a year, without a doubt, without a shred of hesitation, Matthijs De Ligt.

You don’t often talk about can’t miss talents, because, generally speaking, they don’t exist. But De Ligt, the young Dutch defender on display at Ajax, is a can’t miss talent. He’s 19-year-old, already the captain, and has been an amazing anchor to the club, the likes of which Barcelona are already dreaming about.

But that’s the problem, and the reason I wasn’t bothering thinking about any way he could make his way to the Emirates – because he has the world at his disposal. He can go wherever he wants. Literally. At 19 years old he can go anywhere.

Why would he choose Arsenal? That’s the question that I am now forced to answer because the rumor has been dropped that the Gunners are looking to compete with Manchester City for a defender worth £70m.

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Because, you know, after City spent all that money on John Stones, they just needed to spend more on that defense.

City are perennial title contenders, Barcelona are on top of the world at the Gunners, well, they are in a transitional phase that sees them struggling to get into the Champions League while they still try to weed out the dead weight going into the Unai Emery era.

So back to the question – why the Emirates? Well, for one, you can’t find another top tier club (yes, Arsenal are still top tier) that has a bigger opening. There are so few defenders that we can count on at the club and the two that we can are over 30.

De Ligt, meanwhile, would be joining the likes of Konstantinos Mavropanos and Rob Holding as the young core of the future and, if De Ligt makes the right choice. He can be the center of all of that and, not sure if I mentioned this but, he’s 19.

Basically, what I’m saying is, whatever it takes, whoever you have to sell, make it happen. Because you can’t just “be interested” in De Ligt and then give us someone else. He’s going to be one of the best in the world, and we can help him get there.