Soccer

Mikel Arteta will have money to spend in January with the Arsenal manager pursuing Dayot Upamecano


Arsenal lining up Dayot Upamecano as Mikel Arteta’s first signing to shore up leaky defence – and RB Leipzig could be persuaded by £40m January bid

  • New Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is hunting a new centre-back in January
  • Red Bull Leipzig youngster Dayot Upamecano is high on Arteta’s wish list
  • Calum Chambers’ knee injury has accelerated the need for a new defender 
  • Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is stalling on a contract extension at the Emirates  

Arsenal will provide newly appointed manager Mikel Arteta with transfer funds next month to plug their leaky defence.

Money is limited following three seasons without Champions League football, but the club will back Arteta with cash when the January window reopens – with the Gunners prioritising a centre-back.

Red Bull Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano is high on the list of the club’s central defensive targets and the German side could be persuaded to let him leave due to the fact his contract expiring. He could be available for as little as £40million.

Defender Dayot Upamecano is rated at £40million by his current club Red Bull Leipzig

Defender Dayot Upamecano is rated at £40million by his current club Red Bull Leipzig 

New Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is hunting a new centre back in the January window 

The Gunners had a concrete interest in Upmecano, who has 18 months left on his deal, in the summer but felt his price was too high.

But with much of the ground work done regarding a move for the 21-year-old, Arsenal are well-placed to strike.

Their need for a new centre-back next month was exacerbated on Sunday following a knee injury to Calum Chambers against Chelsea on Sunday.

Arsenal medics were pessimistic about Chambers’ injury on Sunday night but the club were yesterday trying to ascertain if the defender has sustained significant ligament damage.

The heart of Arsenal’s defence has long been a problem for the north London club and Arteta is determined to fix those deficiencies.

Calum Chambers in agony after injuring his knee in Arsenal's 2-1 defeat against Chelsea

Calum Chambers in agony after injuring his knee in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat against Chelsea 

Arsenal signed William Saliba from St Etienne in the summer and immediately loaned him back to the French club. The Gunners have high hopes for Saliba, and could explore the possibility of ending his loan next month.

The Gunners, though, are facing a fight to convince captain and top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang that his future remains at the Emirates despite Arteta’s arrival.

The Gabon striker’s current deal expires at the end of next season but he is still stalling on an extension.

There was hope Arteta’s arrival could persuade Aubameyang to stay, but the forward remains unconvinced at the club’s ability to challenge for top honours.

Arteta is still waiting for his first win as Gunners boss, but David Luiz insists it will take time for the Spaniard to implement his style on the team.

Luiz said: ‘He’s trying to make a new philosophy. I think everybody saw that in the first half, we dominated the game and we should have scored the second goal. It would have been a different game.

‘After that the second half was very nervous and both teams were fighting till the end. In the process they are in front of us, they had a pre-season together with the same philosophy and coach.

‘It’s up to us to improve ourselves, we need to get some points, some results. We need to understand the stage of the season we’re in now. We have to take the positives from the Chelsea game and improve the negative things.

‘We have to try to improve ourselves as soon as possible because this club deserves to shine again. They did the right choice with Arteta, he will be one of the best coaches in the world for sure because he knows football, he understands football.

‘He’s trying to improve our team with some field training. We’re going to try to do our best. The first half everybody saw an amazing thing. The second half Chelsea were better than us.’






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