Arsenal considering £10m transfer move for right-back

Arsenal have seen their name featuring all over the headlines in recent days with the verdict on their postponement of the North London Derby sparking widespread outrage.

How dare they follow the rules all the other Premier League clubs have stuck to this season.

What it has done it take some of the focus away from matters in the transfer market. Even the endless speculation surrounding Dusan Vlahovic’s future has had time to settle down amid all the ill-informed backlash.

It’s his name and Arthur Melo‘s which have been heavily linked to Arsenal this window, with midfield and centre-forward the two areas of the pitch where Mikel Arteta’s squad is thinnest.

Arsenal considering transfer move for £10m rated right-back Djed Spence after impressive performance in FA Cup win for Nottingham Forest

Defensively there weren’t thought to be any additions required, but recent events seem to have changed Arsenal’s plans.

Takehiro Tomiyasu remains sidelined with a calf injury, Cedric Soares was forced off against Liverpool and could be set for a spell in the treatment room, while the manager also confirmed that Calum Chambers picked up a knock at Anfield. Oh, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles was allowed to leave.

That leaves the grand total of zero right-backs, which makes the news that Arsenal are eyeing a move for Middlesbrough’s Djed Spence not in the slightest bit surprising.

As per a Mirror exclusive from John Cross, Arsenal, like everyone watching on, were hugely impressed with Nottingham Forest’s on loan man in their 1-0 FA Cup win over the Gunners. Spence did a better job than any Premier League defender has done this season in keeping Gabriel Martinelli quiet, and Italian pair Roma and Inter have joined Arteta’s in keeping tabs on him.

Spence would be valued around the £10m mark by Middlesbrough, although there is a catch.

Any deal would have to be done on a loan back basis, though, due to Spence having already played for his parent club Boro this season. Therefore, he could not play for a third different team. It is said that there is ‘growing expectation’ that something could happen in the January window, even if the deal wouldn’t effectively occur until the summer.

So even if Arsenal do have defensive issues this month, they won’t be solved by Spence.

Further down the line, however, they will need to reinforce. Neither Cedric nor Chambers are at the standard required and when Hector Bellerin returns from his loan at Real Betis there is no believing that he’ll be reintegrated.

Spence looked like the real deal for all fans reluctantly watching on. Arsenal thought so too.