Arsenal: Harry Maguire vs Matthijs de Light an easy decision

Arsenal are joining the race for two £60m defenders, but if you stack them against each other, strong as each are, there’s no contest.

I don’t care what anyone else says, the No. 1 thing that Arsenal need to discover this summer is the future of this defense. I shiver to think about what will happen after Laurent Koscielny, when we have no one that we can point to with complete confidence and believe in to save us.

We need that again. And though we have youth options, we don’t have any that are shining examples of the here and now mixed with the promise of greater things to come. Rob Holding, Calum Chambers and Konstantinos Mavropanos are all flirting with regular first team play, with Krystian Bielik and Zech Medley on the horizon.

But no one is yet in that sweet spot of ready for the now with so much more to look forward to.

Enter Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt. Two defenders going for £60m a pop, and the Gunners appear to be in a race for both of them, likely aiming to land one or the other.

So which do you take?

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In Maguire, you have a Premier League title winner with tons of experience in the English game, an aerial game to die for, athleticism to boot and highly regarded across the world as one of the best at what he does, with eyes always for a higher-tiered team than Leicester City, where he might truly thrive.

In de Ligt, you have a young phenom who captained Ajax to a Champions league semi-final. With aerial ability as well, and the leadership that you’d expect out of a 30-year-old, but only 19.

Who do you choose? You choose de Ligt. And I’ll tell you why. For starters, he’s seven years younger, so he’s got longevity down like no one else, which is exactly what he needs. But just because he isn’t Premier League tested doesn’t mean that he isn’t Premier League ready. He has defended against some of the best teams out there and not lost a step.

But it’s the leadership that you really want to go all in for. We don’t even really have that in Laurent Koscielny, even though he has the captain’s armband.

If they’re both going for the same price, de Ligt has to come first. Of course, it’s not like Maguire is a bad bet. Not by a long shot. De Ligt just has too many strengths and too much yet to grow into to choose anyone over him.