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Arsenal are considering signing a new centre-half in January as they find themselves short of cover in defence.
Last week they lost Rob Holding, who has been their most impressive central defender this season, to a cruciate ligament injury which will keep him out of action for 9 months, and with first-choice alternatives Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papasthathopoulos both unavailable due to suspension, Arsenal have none of their regular centre backs available for their trip to Southampton on Sunday.
Club captain Laurent Koscielny could be in line for a recall, but the 33-year old is coming off the back of a long-injury lay-off himself, and may struggle to adjust to the pace of the Premier League again.
According to The Daily Mirror, Arsenal have drawn up a shortlist of three, which includes Fernando Calero of Real Valladolid, Gary Cahill of Chelsea and United’s Eric Bailly.
Calero seems the most likely as he has a £10 million release clause, whilst neither United nor Chelsea will want to let one of their defenders join a rival at this stage of the season.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.