Arsenal to complete two defensive transfer moves

Over a third of the way through the January transfer window and Arsenal have so far only sanctioned departures from their squad, with nobody yet to arrive.

Well, that’s not entirely true, as the Gunners have completed the signing of 16-year-old Lino Da Cruz Sousa from West Bromwich Albion. The left-back isn’t exactly going to be lining up at Anfield on Thursday, though.

Seeking to bring in a midfielder and a striker, Dusan Vlahovic’s ears must be burning with the amount of discussion that is taking place around his future. As it stands, despite Arsenal’s determined efforts, he’s seeing the season out at Fiorentina.

To free up some much welcome space for him in the squad – or just to move on players that have no future in north London – two deals are being worked on by Arsenal this January window.

https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1481182661787807747

Arsenal working on two defensive transfer moves with Sead Kolasinac joining Marseille and Pablo Mari set for Udinese loan

The first of those is Sead Kolasinac, whose late introduction at Nottingham Forest was a very blatant plea from the manager that he needs reinforcements this month. As per Ryan Taylor, and numerous other sources, he looks certain to join Marseille this month.

Jorge Sampaoli is continuing to assemble his Arsenal XI and has lined up the versatile left-back as a winter recruit, with the deal on course to be finalised when, you guessed it, his contract is mutually terminated. He’s into his final six months, with the farewell penciled in way before that, albeit still years too late.

Also in the defensive department and ready to move on is Pablo Mari. Arsenal have made the central defender available for transfer in January with the Spaniard falling way down in Mikel Arteta’s estimations, and unable to even get minutes in Carabao Cup or FA Cup matches.

A move to Serie A now appears on the cards with Gianluca Di Marzio revealing that discussions are underway with Udinese to conclude a simple loan deal until the end of the season. It’s a signing that the Italian side are ‘closing in’ on.

Udinese will cover some of his wages, but there won’t be an option to buy in the deal.

Mari’s current contract runs out in 2024 and the idea of letting him leave on a simple loan echoes the move that Ainsley Maitland-Niles made. While Arsenal are aware their players who aren’t getting minutes have increasingly decreasing values, agreeing to a set fee before they’ve moved away and played puts a limit on their value. With regular minutes Arsenal feel capable of extracting a higher fee than would be attained with a pre-agreed amount.

Fingers crossed none of the central defenders get injured, right?