Arsenal: Why is Dennis Praet attached to Joachim Andersen?

Arsenal’s biggest transfer rumor thus far is for Sampdoria duo Joachim Andersen and Dennis Praet, but why are they a tandem at all?

Every time I talk about Arsenal‘s dual-link to Joachim Andersen and Dennis Praet, I run into the same problem. I go nuts about Andersen, talking up how great he is and how much he will bring to the club and how he’s the exact defender we need, and how he could take over for any number of underwhelming defenders.

And then I get to Dennis Praet and I say something along the lines of, “I like him as a player, and maybe he could move into an attacking role?”

Because that’s the thing about this rumor – we’re forking out £50m for two guys, which is a massive swoop. And the connection to Lucas Torreira is great, because maybe it will help Torreira settle more. But for the life of me, I still don’t exactly know what we’re hoping to get out of Dennis Praet, yet the two might as well be connected at the hip.

I really do like Praet as a player, and he has a lot of upward mobility to grow, but what is the urgency to bring him in? Is it solely because of his rapport with Lucas Torreira?

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Praet doesn’t play an attacking role. He doesn’t have a track record of creating chances. Which means that he would slot into the central midfield, where we already have Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi, all of whom I am quite pleased with and don’t see the need to change things up.

In fact, that midfield trio was the reason for a lot of optimism this past year.

Perhaps Praet is seen as the Mohamed Elneny replacement. That floating midfielder who you can plug in where you need him. I can get behind that, but at the same time, that’s a lot of money just to get a midfield floater. He isn’t going to start right away, he isn’t going to take Xhaka’s role. Yet we are letting a deal for a defensive solution run up in the price department because of this insistence on getting the two together.

What if Joachim Andersen would only cost £25m on his own? Wouldn’t you rather just buy him than double the price to get Praet too?

I’m still excited about the double deal, and Praet would be a hell of an upgrade on Elneny, but I just don’t think I see the point when funds are already so scarce.