Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is reportedly looking to sign 20-year-old Eintracht Frankfurt defender Evan N’Dicka – as per reports.
Evan N’Dicka is a product of the academy of French club AJ Auxerre having joined Eintracht in 2018. And during these past two seasons, the player has really impressed in the centre-back role – occasionally playing as a left-back.
This season the young defender has played in 25 games for Eintracht across all competitions and as per reports, the Gunners are planning to make a move for him at the end of the season.
Arsenal are looking to overhaul their backline for the upcoming season and there’s a big chance that players like Mustafi, Sokratis and Rob Holding could be sold off during the summer transfer window.
The manager has brought in players Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares during the January transfer window while William Saliba will also be arriving during the summer.
So in such a scenario is the manager really serious about signing Evan N’Dicka?
Evan N’Dicka is currently valued at 25 million euros which is a very good price point for a player who is just 20 years old. But at the same time, there are fears that Unai Emery should not be using his transfer budget in order to bring in young defenders.
As of now, it seems like Arsenal will once again be playing in the Europa League next season meaning the manager will be needing experienced players if he is serious about getting back into the Champions League soon enough.
Another major roadblock for Arsenal is the fact that Liverpool are also interested in signing Evan N’Dicka in the summer and might challenge the Gunners in the signing of the centre-back.
Dejan Lovren is expected to leave Liverpool in the summer and as per some experts, Jurgen Klopp is looking to bring in N’Dicka as a backup to the likes of Van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
Also, the youngster is under contract with Eintracht till the summer of 2023 meaning the Bundesliga side are under no pressure to sell him off in the summer.
So if both Liverpool and Arsenal come calling for the defender then Frankfurt will surely not shy away from jacking up the asking for their centre-back. And in such a scenario when Liverpool will not feel the pressure but for a team like Arsenal, this might be a big cause of concern since they are expected to work on a limited transfer budget in the summer.
