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Arsenal: Five January signings that could save the Gunners’ season

By Kian Long

TURIN, ITALY - MAY 19: Emre Can of Juventus celebrates during the awards ceremony after winning the Serie A Championship during the Serie A match between Juventus and Atalanta BC on May 19, 2019 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY - MAY 19: Emre Can of Juventus celebrates during the awards ceremony after winning the Serie A Championship during the Serie A match between Juventus and Atalanta BC on May 19, 2019 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images) /
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BARCELONA, SPAIN – AUGUST 04: Samuel Umtiti of FC Barcelona competes for the ball with Ozil of Arsenal during the Joan Gamper Trophy match between FC Barcelona and Arsenal at Nou Camp on August 04, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – AUGUST 04: Samuel Umtiti of FC Barcelona competes for the ball with Ozil of Arsenal during the Joan Gamper Trophy match between FC Barcelona and Arsenal at Nou Camp on August 04, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images) /

2. Samuel Umtiti – Barcelona

Three things are inevitable in this lifetime; death, taxes and Arsenal needing a centre back. They bought William Saliba and David Luiz in the summer but the former won’t arrive until next season and it doesn’t look like the latter will ever truly arrive.

Don’t get me wrong, Luiz hasn’t been the worst Arsenal defender this season but he definitely hasn’t done anything to benefit the backline. Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Luiz have not used their experience well enough in this Arsenal XI.

Rob Holding has been making his comeback from injury and Calum Chambers has impressed. It’s ironic that the two younger centre backs are the two showing the most grit. Long story short, the centre back position needs fixing (again).

Good news for Arsenal is that Umtiti will probably be available in January. Talk of the town is the Frenchman is treading on thin ice at Camp Nou and it’s likely that Ernesto Valverde will ship him out this winter. Barcelona signed the younger Clement Lenglet in the summer and he has pretty much solidified himself a place in the XI.

The one bad thing about Umtiti is that he is plagued with injuries. He seems to struggle with consistent playing time due to it. However, if he can work on his fitness then he is definitely a man for Arsenal to consider.

Umtiti has become accustomed to playing the ball out from the back which could be of great use to Emery. Sloppy passes at the back have been the root to some of Arsenal’s problems this season so bringing in a specialist at the trade could knock the other defenders into gear.

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