Arsenal: Defensive recruitment, youth and summer window will determine the Unai Emery mould

Arsenal are planning for the summer window. How Unai Emery navigates the transfer market, invests in defensive reinforcements and handles a burgeoning collection of young players will determine his mould of player.

Unai Emery is keen to bolster Arsenal’s defensive capacity during the upcoming summer transfer market. As The Daily Star first reported, the first year boss has detailed his choices with mindfulness regarding Arsenal’s financial circumstance. Looking for youth, technicality, pace and passing, Emery’s gaze has been cast towards the Bundesliga and Ligue 1.

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Ibrahima Konaté of RB Leipzig tops the list. With youth, pace, vision, athleticism and passion, the French international is a no-brainer. The German top-tier experience has provided development, while still only 19. At the centre-back position, Konaté could provide a true athletic juxtaposition to the brutal yet intellectual intensity of Sokratis. That said, at an estimated £40 million, his acquisition could prove difficult to financially reconcile without a Champions League birth.

Konaté is simply the first and most desirable option, however.

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Should that fail or prove unfeasible, Matthias Ginter of Borussia Mönchengladbach would suffice. At 25, Ginter remains a younger, still fairly talented defender. Blessed by hard work, the German center-back possesses a noticeable offensive and defensive presence in the box, alongside developing finishing skills. His reliability is certainly greater than, say, fellow countryman Shrokdan Mustafi. While six years older than Konaté, his relative youth and experience would still provide an upgrade to the back of whatever shape Arsenal should manifest.

The list is rounded off by Boubacar Kamara of the Ligue 1 outfit Olympique de Marseille. While cheapest in price, that should not discount Kamara’s value. The 18-year-old French international centre-back, converted from midfield, has a contract running out in 2020 and has provided ample energy, intensity and vision. His ability to play left-back, right-back, centre-back and midfield would perhaps be the most economical, utilitarian and efficacious of signings.

Reports also continue to swirl around Nicolás Tagliafico of Ajax, with Arsenal being ‘best positioned’ to acquire him at £8 million according to some. His creativity and defensive abilities at either left or right-back and inexpensive price could also see him become a Gunner in the summer.

Alongside the possible addition of Monchi, formerly of Roma as new Technical Director Arsenal’s final position in the league will surely determine the veracity of their transfer spending come summer.

With the return of Henrikh Mkhitaryan into the rotation after injury, Mesut Özil’s return to form, managerial favor and usage, the place of Denis Suarez looks like that of successor to Aaron Ramsey. While the ultimate choice will be made during the summer, his integration into the team has been maddeningly slow for many.

Despite this, my personal belief is that for the price, Emery is content to use him sparingly. A slow transition into English football may suit Suarez best and, since Emery formerly knows his disposition from their mutual time in Sevilla, I trust this particular process.

With Danny Welbeck’s Arsenal future also up in the air following his brutal injury and shortly-ending contract, other options remain. Does Suarez move to the wing to replace Welbeck while Arsenal sign the frequently linked 23-year-old Pablo Fornals of Villarreal? Or, does Emery pull the trigger for Lille winger Nicolas Pépé to provide real width and pace, while Suarez fills out a midfield rotational committee? Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi and Suarez together may develop equally to the challenge of replacing aspects of the great Welshman.

Still, other options and avenues exist. The internal youth movement at Arsenal includes Ainsley Maitland-Niles at almost any position he is needed and Eddie Nketiah in attack. The Ramsey doppelgänger, Emile Smith-Rowe, in an attacking, creative position has proved difficult to stop whenever given liberty and expression as well. Reiss Nelson, on loan at Hoffenheim, rounds off the promise in depth that Arsenal and Emery command. While his inconsistency can be addressed in training once he has returned to the club, his Bundesliga experience will remain vital in his growth.

Between the listed defensemen, the aforementioned Tagliafico, Fornals and Pépé, and the youth in waiting, Arsenal’s vision is clear: Pace, depth, expression, youth, passion and technicality are the calling cards for an Unai Emery Arsenal player. The summer window will be crucial in further building that institution.