Arsenal join the race for the £40 million Serie A star

Arsenal is looking to rebuild themselves and their squad under Unai Emery, and the former PSG boss has targeted a Serie A star to help him out.

The Gunners struggled to make a place in the top four last season in Arsene Wenger’s final season at the Emirates, losing to Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-final as well. However, with Unai Emery coming in, many hope that the former PSG boss and stabilise and hopefully lead Arsenal back into its glory days. But to do that the new manager needs to reinforce the team, and has thus done so.

Emery has brought in the likes of Lucas Torriera, Stephan Lichsteiner, Sokratis Papasthouplos and Bernd Leno, while at the same time offering new contracts to Calum Chambers, Rob Holding and Alex Iwobi. Not only that, he has managed to convince Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexander Lacazette and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to stay. However, while Aaron Ramsey still needs his contract situation sorted out, the former Sevilla boss is reportedly considering adding another player to his squad.
Arsenal’s left back situation isn’t looking good with both Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac out injured for up to ten weeks, and while Monreal may feature before that he still may not be match fit enough to play Manchester City next weekend. That’s why reports from the Daily Mail indicate that the Gunners are or rather could make a late bid for Serie A and AC Milan star Ricardo Rodriguez.
The 25-year-old has been on the Arsenal shortlist for quite some-time, even before he was an AC Milan star but with the Gunners facing serious problems, there is a chance that Emery might make a move before the window ends. However, they face resistance from the Serie A giants who are very reluctant to sell but could let the Swiss international go for around 40 million.
For now, Arsenal does have incredible versatile Ainsley Maitland-Niles who has played as a make-shift left back before, and done very well for them. But given that their first two games just happen to be against Manchester City and then Chelsea, Arsenal will want to find a more permanent solution and fast.

Author’s take:

The 25-year-old Rodriguez is a brilliant player and would be a worthy addition to Emery’s project at Arsenal. However, given his versatility to play across the back-line and his set-piece abilities, there is a small chance that AC Milan may let the former Wolfsburg star leave. But if Arsenal and Unai Emery does, somehow manage to convince him, they get a solid defender who’s not shy of pace either.