As reported by The Journalist, Arsenal are monitoring Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt and Borussia Dortmund centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck.
It is understood that Mikel Arteta’s coaching staff at Arsenal admire both de Ligt and Schlotterbeck, and the pair have been identified as long-term transfer targets.
However, due to the contractual status of both players as well as the fees required
To lure them away from Bayern and Dortmund, a move in January for either is unfeasible.
Arsenal wants to improve the quality of defence by signing a new defender
On top of this, with injuries sustained to Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu, immediate defensive reinforcement is required in January. This means that the Premier League side will have to look for more attainable players than the Bundesliga duo over the winter window.
Nevertheless, this does not rule out the potential signing of either defender in the summer. With both de Ligt and Schlotterbeck seeing their deals with Der Rekordmeister and Die Schwarzgelben expire in 2027,
Arsenal would have to submit a lucrative offer to prize either defender away.
Regardless, Thomas Tuchel has shown this season that his preferred defensive partnership consists of Kim Min-jae and Dayot Upamecano,
While Schlotterbeck has failed to develop as quickly as BvB would have hoped,
With Mats Hummels outperforming his younger counterpart this season.
Therefore, it would be understandable that the right offer from Arsenal could see them land one of their targets in the future.
There’s also David Raya, who brought in on a loan with obligation to buy because of FFP issues last summer.
Arsenal will have to pay £27million for him next summer and that will need to be accounted for in the budget.
The Athletic report that strengthening the defence remains the priority for the Gunners in January
But the changing nature of the window means that other areas could come into focus.
Midfield could be an area Arsenal choose to reinforce with Thomas Partey due to go off to AFCON.
