Arsenal brought in Mikel Arteta as their new manager in December of last year and one of the first thing he’s has done is to bring in some defensive reinforcements.
The Gunners have brought in Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares on a short-term loan deal last month and Paul Merson believes the two signings goes on to show just how fragile the Arsenal defence is at the moment.
Merson said, as quoted by Daily Star: “Arteta worked with him [Mari] at Man City and will have gone to Arsenal, worked with the defenders at Arsenal and weighed it up and thought ‘he’s played in the second division in Spain but he’s probably better than what I’ve got here.’
“The main thing is, he’s seen what he needs at the back. He has come in and brought two defenders in. Will they make a difference? We will have to wait and see.
“The shame for me is that it just shows where Arsenal are. They are struggling.
“They aren’t the big fish anymore where they can go and get £50m or £60m players. They are going for players that no-one else is really after. It wasn’t like they were in a bidding war.
“The lad from Southampton, I didn’t even know he was available and if there was anyone else after him.”
Arsenal did bring in David Luiz from Chelsea before the start of the season but that move has certainly not worked too well since the Gunners’ backline have seen no major improvements.
With the arrival of Pablo Mari and Soares, atleast Arteta will get some reinforcements at the back which will be useful since Calum Chambers has been ruled out of action for the rest of the season.
