Arsenal: Where Axel Disasi ranks among 4 other centerback targets

Axel Disasi has been thrown into the Arsenal centerback links, so here’s where he ranks among four other centerback transfer targets.

Arsenal is almost certainly going to be digging into the transfer pool to help build a formidable defense for the long-term. While David Luiz is committed to staying and William Saliba set to join, the Gunners are likely to lose Sokratis, Shkodran Mustafi, and potentially even Rob Holding, not to mention Konstantinos Mavropanos.

This leaves Luiz, a recovering Calum Chambers, and Saliba to be the primary pieces of this defense, with Pablo Mari a darkhorse candidate for rotational work. Mikel Arteta has supposedly made it clear that he’s looking for a new centerback, and Axel Disasi is the latest to be thrown into the mix of options.

Of course, with so little known about how much money will be available, not to mention what our final place in the season may dictate in terms of availability, there are links galore, all across the spectrum. So with Disasi now an option, let’s see where he stands up against four other options.

We will start with option No. 5.

5. Dejan Lovren

This rumor kind of came out of nowhere, and in a period where we are linked to all kinds of rival cast-offs, I’m just not humored by it. Liverpool has built a fantastic defense with Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip, with Lovren being the floating third, or sometimes fourth, wheel, but if we are thinking proactively, and aiming to build a long-term, top-tier defense, Lovren is not an answer.

Lovren is a short-term fix for a team that is overladen with short-term fixes. That said… not being able to crack a stout Liverpool defense is no condemnation of his ability. Lovren is an effective defender who could definitely provide a boost to our defensive corps, but it’s hard to justify signing him, even for cheap, when there are so many younger, long-term fixes already out there and available to us.

And so, with that in mind, let’s move on to some of those younger, long-term options now. Starting with No. 4.