£16m “monster” now wants to join Arsenal after Madueke

Will Arsenal’s spending spree continue?

So far this summer, the Gunners have already signed Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martín Zubimendi and Christian Nørgaard, with the latter unveiled on Thursday.

Meantime, a £52m move for Noni Madueke appears to be close, while the Gunners continue the chase for both Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyökeres.

It was clear that Mikel Arteta needed to add plenty of attacking firepower to his squad, but do they now have a new defender in their sights?

Arsenal’s pursuit of a new centre-back

Earlier in the window, as noted by Stuart James and Guillermo Rai of The Athletic, Arsenal, amongst many other clubs, held a genuine interest in signing Dean Huijsen, before the Spain international chose to move to Real Madrid instead.

Thus, despite having William Saliba and Gabriel, who Oliver Hopkins of Opta’s the Analyst notes is arguably the best duo in the Premier League, the Gunners recognise they require greater depth in that position.

Thus, as reported by Football London, Arsenal remain interested in signing Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia, adding that the Spanish youth international is ‘keen to sign’ for the Gunners, so much so that he has rejected a new contract with los Murciélagos.

Ed Aarons of the Guardian has previously reported that the “monster” defender would cost around £16m, so could he swap Mestalla for North London?

How Cristhian Mosquera would improve Arsenal

Mosquera has been with Valencia since the age of 12, his senior debut coming against Atlético Baleares in the Copa del Rey in January 2022, accumulating 90 appearances for los Che’s first team, scoring his first-ever senior goal against Leganés in February.

He was also part of the Spain squad at this summer’s under-21 European Championships, starting three of their four matches in Slovakia, having also helped la Rojita win Olympic Gold in Paris 12 months ago.

Analyst Spencer Mossman praises Mosquera’s ‘tenacious tackling’ and ‘impressive’ improvement when it comes to his ‘ball playing’ ability, while also left impressed by his versatility.

Meantime, Jonas Bartsch of Total Football Analysis adds that the youngster has an ‘outstanding footballing IQ’ and ‘exceptional situational awareness’, so let’s assess his statistics from La Liga last season.

As the table outlines, Mosquera ranked generally very highly for all defensive metrics in La Liga last season, especially when it comes to the percentage of dribblers tackled and ball recoveries, made all the more impressive by the fact that Valencia spent the campaign battling against relegation.

Now though, let’s assess how he compares to Arsenal’s first-choice target – and Mosquera’s compatriot – Huijsen.

As the table outlines, Huijsen’s statistics are pretty much all more impressive than Mosquera’s, but this is to be expected considering the former Bournemouth man is a full-Spain international, and is the one of the two who has just joined Real Madrid.

Nevertheless, Mosquera’s statistics are still impressive, ranking higher for passing and ground duels, ensuring he is an exciting, high-potential Spanish defender in his own right.

Thus, it is clear that the 21-year-old would be an excellent addition to the Arsenal squad, joining Madueke and co in bolstering Arteta’s already talented ranks.

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