Arsenal are set to battle it out with Juventus for Schalke 04 left-back Sead Kolasinac, with the Bosnian’s contract expiring in June.
Schalke have tried and failed to land the 23-year-old on a new deal and he looks destined to leave the Die Königsblauen, whether that be this month or in the summer.
Schalke seem unwilling to sell their man half way through the season, but face the dilemma of losing their player for free in the summer if they do not sell this month.
Juventus are also huge admirers and have reportedly already sent in a bid to the German club, but according to reports, Arsenal have now entered the fray for Kolasinac.
Schalke continue to publicly say that the player will not leave this month, meaning that Arsenal could sign him for free on a pre-contract, should negotiations go well.
Kolasinac has been with the Germans for five years and has played 81 league games for the club thus far scoring three goals. Although he was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, he opted to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina and has since gone on to be capped 17 times.
Italian giants, Juventus are likely to lose Patrice Evra this month and will be in the market for a new left-back despite today announcing the signing of Mattia Caldara and the Gunners look to strengthen their left-back position after unconvincing performances from Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs thus far this season.
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With Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs fighting for the number one spot in the starting XI, the arrival of Kolasinac could see one of the Arsenal men shipped out, with the likelihood of the latter leaving the Gunners.
We take a look at how Kolasinac compares to the Arsenal men this season.
Playing in the defence, one of the main traits each player must carry is the amount of tackles they win, and the Schalke man certainly impresses in this area winning 1.97 tackles per 90 minutes thus far this season with Monreal in second with 1.44 and Gibbs last 0.85.
Another key asset to a defenders game is the amount of aerial duels they win, and standing at 6ft it is not surprising the powerful Kolasinac has managed to win 63.04% of his aerial duels which again puts him ahead of the Gunners men, with Gibbs and Monreal both trailing on 45% and 39.68% respectively.
Playing for the Gunners, you have to share and adapt to their identity which they have built on over the years, that being efficient, free-flowing beautiful possession based football, something the club has been praised with heavily over the years. It is not surprising that Monreal and Gibbs are not separable in this area, both managing 83% pass completion which puts them both ahead of Kolasinac who managed 70%, which is impressive but could certainly be worked on.
The Schalke man impresses with a number of total duels he has won per 90 minutes thus far this season, managing to win a total of 51.49% in the 11 Bundesliga games he has played, which is superior to both Monreal and Gibbs with the former managing 40.96% and the latter 39.53%.
The Bosnian international is a forward-thinking full-back who is eager to push on and help the attack whilst remaining strong in his defensive duties, utilising his pace for good recovery mode too. The stats above prove he would be an top signing for the Gunners and would certainly have a chance of starting.