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Arsenal reportedly eyeing 34-cap defender likened to Per Mertesacker

Giuseppe Labellarte

Thu 25 May 2023 19:45, UK

Arsenal have been linked with Edmond Tapsoba for a long time, and speculation is now doing the rounds again.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Gunners scouts have been monitoring the Bayer Leverkusen star in recent games.

As well as Arsenal, rivals Tottenham Hotspur are apparently eyeing Tapsoba as well.

Romano, writing on Twitter, said the race for the 24-year-old is “absolutely open”, but may require a “huge” bid.

‘Powerful and super-quick’

Arsenal could certainly do with bolstering their defensive ranks ahead of the new season.

The Gunners lost William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu to injury, which proved critical for their title hopes.

With that in mind, Mikel Arteta will no doubt look to increase his strength in depth at the back.

Tapsoba would be a great shout for Arsenal.

He has that perfect blend of talent, physicality, experience, attitude and years ahead of him.

At 24, his prime years as a defender are still to come, but he has over 130 competitive appearances for Leverkusen.

This season alone, Tapsoba has made 46 appearances for his club, clocking up almost 4,000 minutes of football.

Tapsoba, who stands 6ft 4in tall, also has 34 caps for Burkina Faso and 32 senior appearances for Vitoria Guimaraes.

Last year, the sung his praises, calling him a “powerful and super-quick defender” with “frightening heading abilities”.

They also compared Tapsoba to Jerome Boateng and lauded his “incredible composure, speed, strength and exceptional passing ability”.

Tipped to become ‘one of the greatest players in the world’

Meanwhile, his former coach at Vitoria Guimaraes has backed him for superstardom.

“I’m sure he will continue his development and become one of the greatest players in the world,” Ivo Vieira told Kicker, via .

“He can end up where he wants to. At one of the world’s biggest clubs.”

Arsenal fans will also be pleased to know Tapsoba previously earned comparisons to a Gunners icon.

quoted him as saying: “My friends used to call me Mertesacker.

“When I started playing in the academy, I started to like John Stones.

“Right now, I’d say my role models are (Virgil) van Dijk and (Kalidou) Koulibaly.”

Back in 2021, one report claimed Leverkusen wanted around £60million for Tapsoba.

Since his contract runs until 2026, the club pretty much holds all the cards.

Nonetheless, Tapsoba certainly ticks all the boxes for Arsenal, and as such, he’s definitely worth a shout.