Arsenal in talks over £17m Denis Zakaria transfer

Hello transfer window, our old friend. It appears as if despite all the focus being on other areas of the squad, such as backup goalkeeper and creative midfield, Arsenal are not turning down the opportunity to bolster their ranks elsewhere.

With Joe Willock departing for Newcastle and Ainsley Maitland-Niles expected to be moved on before the window closes on August 31, those with a spare hand will have no trouble counting how many central midfielders that leaves Arsenal with.

It’s four. To save you the time.

Thomas Partey is perennially injured, Granit Xhaka is immortal, Mohamed Elneny is Mohamed Elneny and Sambi Lokonga is still a work in progress, regardless of how brilliant he appears to be.

Arsenal in talks over bargain £17m Denis Zakaria transfer from Borussia Mönchengladbach as Arteta eyes midfield reinforcements

Mikel Arteta’s squad has no European football to contend with but decent runs in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup wouldn’t go amiss, while the two African options will be jetting off to AFCON in January to limit the options further.

Links to Corentin Tolisso have emerged as a possible reinforcement with the Bayern Munich midfielder available at an absolute bargain price of £8m, a deal that if his wretched injury history was put to one side would be a bite-your-hand-off move.

And then there is Denis Zakaria, who has been linked with a north London switch for a number of windows. A teammate of Xhaka’s in the Swiss national team, the midfielder was once a high-profile target of Manchester City for fees in and around £35m only to fall off the map entirely when he suffered a serious knee injury in March 2020.

Much like Tolisso, the recovery time took a chunk out of his contract and now the 24-year-old is into the final year of his deal with Borussia Mönchengladbach hoping to sell to avoid losing him for free.

As per BILD, Gladbach have now set their stall up at £17m, which has attracted interest from a trio of Premier League sides: Everton, Tottenham and Arsenal have all been credited with a watchful eye.

However, that has since advanced with the head of Sport Bild, Christian Falk, revealing that talks have opened between all three of those club to sign Zakaria this summer. Additionally, Serie A duo Napoli and Roma are also in the race.

Zakaria is clearly a wanted man. But how far past the injury issues can you look? Take them out of the equation and the ball carrying, proactive, destroyer of a midfielder that enticed clubs 18 months ago is someone any club in Europe will be keen on.

Is he over those issues? Well, he’s been hard at work to prepare himself for a move.

Continued…

Denis Zakaria Transfer Doesn’t Make Sense for Arsenal

Looking at the Arsenal midfield four, on the basis of Willock and Maitland-Niles leaving, there are two No. 6’s and two hybrid No. 6/8’s. Partey and Sambi can play the box-to-box role but as witnessed during pre-season it’s clear that Arteta prefers the Belgian in a deeper-lying zone, even allowing Xhaka to push further upfield.

Zakaria is a No. 6. A bruising, ball carrying and physically imposing No. 6. He likes to be the springboard for attacks and turnover possession and bring it forward instead of immediately relinquishing it, but he’s still a defensive midfielder.

There is little to nothing in terms of goal threat and with four behind-the-ball midfielders in the ranks already, do Arsenal need another?

Were Elneny to be moved on then Zakaria would be welcomed with open arms. The issue of his injury woes is one that can’t be ignored, yet it’s stated that the Swiss was running eight to ten kilometres per day in order to stay fit, doing so immediately after his nation were knocked out of the European Championships.

Such dedication is appreciated in this day and age – he also wants the best deal he can get – and at a strong age with a ceiling that’s been seen previously but still has room to be lifted, he fits the profile.

Yet even if the injury issues persist Arsenal have much of a muchness in that department.

Where there is also some concern is that while a £17m price tag has been placed on his head, with five known clubs involved in talks (how extensive said talks are isn’t known) it could spark a bidding war which will only see the fee increase.

Zakaria is someone who could absolutely work at Arsenal. Just not right now.