Arsenal’s 5 current right-back transfer targets – ranked

Mikel Arteta and Edu submitted their transfer plans to the Arsenal board weeks before the campaign ended with work underway to acquire the targets they seek in the off-season. An exciting period for some and grueling for others, slowly it appears their right-back targets are taking shape.

There is always a list. Recruitment and management teams will have a better understanding of the players they seek in terms of attitudes and off-field demeanour, while their scouting work will be more extensive even if supporters these days have access to a wealth of data analysis.

Arteta’s transfer plans will be numbered from first to last, with the ideal options most strongly worked on followed by their contingency plans. Whenever a club signs a player it’s unlikely they were the primary option, despite what we get told during announcements.

With Hector Bellerin set to leave – preferably to a club with money, unlike Real Betis – a new right-back will be brought in. The goalkeeping department has taken surprising precedence of late, but fans have been dished up a few names that have been most heavily linked with a north London switch.

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Arsenal’s 5 current right-back targets ranked as Mikel Arteta pushes for defensive reinforcements in summer transfer window

The targets in mind are encouraging. Arteta knows which profile of right-back he wants – predominantly an attacking one – and even if the five most heavily linked offer different alluring attributes, they would all be welcome additions to the squad.

It would also be nice if they were brought in quickly, which sadly is rarely the case. In a position where the club need to sell before buying, shifting the likes of Bellerin – which appears to be relatively troublesome – becomes paramount so as to nail down one of the plethora of needs this summer early.

Interestingly with the five main targets we’ve learned of, all of them ply their trade in different divisions. Talk about casting your net wide.

Nothing is confirmed and more links are sure to crop up but it would appear that whoever Arsenal bring in to complement the right-back slot will come from one of this group. Never count your chickens in transfer season, though, this could change in an instant. However, looking around, here are the five in delightful ranked format.

5. Achraf Hakimi – Inter

Age: 22
Nationality: Moroccan
Contract Expiry: 2025
Price Tag: £70m

The world class right-back is…bottom of the list? Whoever decides such a ranking should be given a stern talk into!

Controversial? Perhaps, but to be clear, this is solely down to finance. If it was attributed to ability alone he would be top of the list by some margin. Achraf Hakimi is the best there is.

Antonio Conte departed Inter shortly after lifting the Serie A title due to a lack of ambition from the owners. His decision centered around the Italian side’s desires in the transfer market, in which they need to recoup €80m worth of player sales this summer.

All signs point towards the champions seeking to meet this figure in one fell swoop. £70m for Hakimi is not even a figure to consider. Too expensive, move on.

Paris Saint-Germain are leading the race and saw an offer of £52m rejected recently, which tells you all you need to know about this pursuit. Arsenal’s interest in Hakimi has been around for a while and rightly so given his outrageous talent, but for that price the club can safely kiss goodbye to that pipe-dream and look elsewhere.