Arsenal and Manchester United are in a race for the defender Kim min Jae. The Gunners weren’t too far away from a truly outstanding Manchester City side this season. There seems one obvious flaw to fix for Mikel Arteta’s men to come back as more serious title contenders next season. They need a solid backup for William Saliba. Certainly Rob Holding isn’t the man. He has let Arsenal down during the times they needed him the most.
Manchester United are the favourites but Arsenal still in and among teams interested
Declan Rice may be Arsenal’s top target in what is expected to be an aggressive summer in the transfer market. Arsenal now may have their interest elsewhere.
That player, is Napoli centre-back Kim Min-jae. The South Korea international has been one of the players of the season in Europe’s big five leagues. He played a starring role alongside Victor Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia as Napoli won their first Serie A title in 33 years. He has played an integral part in their nation set up as well.
In truth, it’s a price Arsenal can’t afford not to pay, but it can still be done without spending a fortune. Arsenal have conceded 42 league goals so far this term. That is only six fewer than last season and with two games still to play. At home in particular,their defensive record is pretty awful, with only 5 teams, including relegated Southampton, having a worse record in that department. If Arsenal can fix that on the cheap with one of the top defenders in the game, making Gabriel their backup option instead of Holding next season, then surely it’s an absolute no-brainer.
We’ll have to see how much Arsenal can spend this summer, and in an ideal world they’d certainly get both Kim and Rice, but if landing the former means they have to look for a cheaper option than the latter, then so be it; they cannot go into another campaign without fixing their defence or this season really will just be a flash in the pan.
