Arsenal: 3 ideal options at center-back to shore up the defense

2. Jonathan Tah

Jon Tah, to me, is genuinely just a better Sokratis. An imposing 6’4”, he is an excellent aerial threat, and strong as an ox. He is aggressive, an excellent man-marker, and almost impossible to dribble past, a mere 0.4 times per game. His tackling is similarly superb. But his skill in posession is what really sets him above the Greek.

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The modern game requires center-backs to be at least competent passers. Tah is nothing short of consummate in his distribution. His short passing is nigh-on perfect, having played 1487 short passes accurately this year, in comparison to just 111 inaccurate. That’s a 93% completion rate. He’s also completed 58% of his long passes, a better rate than Sokratis and David Luiz, the latter being famed for his long passing. He’s also attempted more than either of them.

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And at 23, he is younger than Calum Chambers, making him the perfect man to build a defense around. The German is an experienced leader at Bayer Leverkusen, and still has room to grow and improve. Currently valued at around 40 million, it would cost us the price of Aymeric Laporte to sign Tah and Upamecano together. That’s a steal.

Now for the all-important No. 1!