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Arsenal now keen to sign £40m defender who named Gabriel Jesus as his ‘toughest’ opponent ever
Although it might anger some Arsenal fans, Mikel Arteta does want to sign another defender this summer.
Arsenal want to sign a centre-back to compete with Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba next season, a pair who are very well established at this point.
Of course, that explains why Arsenal wanted Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth before he opted to head to Real Madrid in Spain.
Jakub Kiwior was solid for Arsenal when stepping in for Gabriel whilst the Brazilian was injured towards the end of last season, but there’s no guarantee that the Poland international sticks around.
Arsenal want to keep Kiwior, but the defender has expressed for some time that he wants to leave in order to play more regularly, even if he has enjoyed his time working with Arteta.
Arsenal considering a move for Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi
That being said, are now reporting that Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi is ‘high on Arsenal’s list’ this summer.
The defender has just one year remaining on his contract and TBR Football recently shared that Palace are willing to sell Guehi for around £40m this summer, even if he is a player they don’t want to lose.
But given Guehi’s contract situation, Palace recognise that now is the time to sell.
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Of course, Arsenal may have an issue convincing Guehi to leave south London for the Emirates this summer given the problems that Kiwior is currently experiencing at the club.
Quite obviously, Guehi would arrive at Arsenal as Arteta’s third-choice centre-back, a position that is unlikely to help his prospects of playing for England.
And with a World Cup on the horizon, Guehi will want to be sending a message to England boss Thomas Tuchel, week in, week out.
As things stand, there’s very little prospect of Arteta switching to a three at the back set-up, explaining why Guehi might not be keen to head to north London.
Marc Guehi might be excited to play alongside Gabriel Jesus
Amid talk of Palace’s captain potentially joining Arsenal or not, it is now interesting to revisit some comments Guehi made about Gabriel Jesus earlier this year.
Back in February, shortly after Gabriel Jesus had scored five goals in two games against Palace, Guehi labelled the Arsenal striker as his ‘toughest’ opponent to date.
Guehi didn’t actually reference those games when making his pick, rather he threw it back to the opening day of the 2022/23 Premier League season.
Guehi was asked: “Who would you say has been the best player you have faced so far?”
He then replied: “There have been many, many players, I always remember when Jesus first signed for Arsenal, the first game of the season, that first half was the toughest half I have ever had, he was amazing in that half, just for that reason, I would say Jesus.”
And although Arsenal are ready to sell Jesus, he won’t be going anywhere this summer owing to his injury recovery.