Arsenal should target Nordi Mukiele to fill right-back void

I decided to take a break from the Super League drama and talk about a position at Arsenal that I believe is in question, and that is right-back. Currently the number one right-back for the Gunners, Hector Bellerin, is set to leave to leave in the summer, a move that is all-but rubber stamped, leaving a void in this position for next season.

The replacements without amendment would be Calum Chambers and Cedric Soares, but are these really the players who will bring trophies back to the club? Chambers has been playing brilliantly of late, but doubts remain that he can be the player Arsenal truly needs.

If you follow Arsenal transfer news, you would have seen that the Gunners are targeting Inter’s Achraf Hakimi for the right-back spot. However, I think Arsenal should be targeting a different  player in the summer. This player is 6’2″ Nordi Mukiele, from German side RB Leipzig.

Mukiele has become a top young talent in world football and is attracting attention from the worlds biggest clubs, according to Sky Germany, and it’s little wonder why.

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Arsenal should target RB Leipzig’s Nordi Mukiele to fill right-back void upon Hector Bellerin’s departure

Only 23, the French national has improved tremendously in his young career and that trajectory shows no signs of abating. A exceptional all-round defender, he rarely gets beaten one-on-one.

A surprisingly tall figure for the wing-back position, Mukiele uses his height and physicality in in the defensive third just as he does in the business end of the pitch. An adept tackler both standing and sliding, he is the Aaron Wan-Bissaka equivalent of the Bundesliga. Such a frame doesn’t diminish his speed, as those long legs take big and long strides meaning he can track back as effectively as he can bombard forward.

A decent crosser of the ball, such areas of his game will improve with age, just as all other facets of his skillset have been fine-tuned over recent seasons. For the current campaign Mukiele has recorded three goals and two assists in 24 appearances, and while by no means the Trent Alexander-Arnold type who’ll morph into David Beckham in wide areas and put in marvelous balls, there is impact in that department. He is a lock-down (no pun intended) defender, who has a dominating physical presence, but also the quality to contribute in attacking phases and help build through the thirds.

Additionally, due to his height, Mukiele also has the potential to play right centre-back for Arteta if needed, which also is a position that could be thin depending on what is decided with the futures of the two loanees and David Luiz. An overall great defender with heaps of potential, Mukiele would solidify the Arsenal defense with his stature as well as energy in the pressing, which is synonymous with RB Leipzig.

He is a defensive sensation and there is no reason to predict he won’t make his way to the Premier League at some point in his career. Ideally at Arsenal.

It’s doubtful that he will stay with the German side beyond the summer, presenting Arsenal with an opportunity to bolster an area that all speculation claims they will aim to do.

Mukiele currently has two years left on his contract and rumours state he would cost the Gunners around £25m, significantly less than Hakimi. Although I personally believe that this is an unrealistic signing – although the current situation may make finance plentiful – he should be on Arteta’s radar. Mukiele would be a great fit. The backline of Arsenal sometimes looks weak and fragile, as seen with the manager’s decision to add physicality against Slavia Prague.

With this Frenchman on the pitch, that will never be the case, he is a powerful force.