A back-up for Hector Bellerin has been scanned; yet to be delivered.
The Gunners may seem to echo the Stephan Lichtsteiner move of last year with Antonio Valencia, this time the reverberation being a little better. The Swiss international falter for the Gunners has led to a Lichtsteiner 2.0 move with Arsenal linked up to Antonio Valencia.
The 35-year old Swedish captain with all his experience and athleticism could not get into life under Unai Emery following which the Spaniard had to bring in academy graduate Niles into right-back position. The youngster has brilliantly acclimatized under the Spanish boss which the more experienced Stephan failed to, both in the English Premier League as well as Europa League for the Gunners.
Now, a 2.0 is said to be released with Arsenal targeting Manchester United right-back and six time Premier League Champion Antonio Valencia. The Manchester United man is out of contract this summer and is in no way willing to renew extension.
His father and agent sealed the fact saying, ”He definitely will not continue in Manchester.”
“He wants a change in the air and the club is not going to renew him either. Like everything in life, everything comes to an end.”
When asked about Valencia’s next move, he said,
“Arsenal, West Ham, Inter Milan and one club from China are options, but in football everything is changing.
“He wants to choose the best option, but above all he wants to sign a contract for two years.”
“Not for the money, but for peace and hopefully, he told me, be hired by a team that fights for important things.”
With the fear of this being a bad decision again there are glimpses of this being a worthy transfer for the club, all things being accounted for. Why and how will Valencia transfer do good to Gunners?
Primarily, the experience that Valencia has under his belt, specifically in the Premier League playing for Manchester United and winning six titles along, he has dipped himself into the style of English Football, something Lichtsteiner couldn’t conform to.
Antonio Valencia, apart from being better on paper has proved more so often what a game changer he can be. The right-back is well-equipped with varied skills, better athleticism and still a lot of football left. The move that was supposedly correct by Arsenal(to bring in an experienced right-back) was just penned down by the wrong player, but with Valencia the Gunners can restructure and undo their mistake.
In 2017/18 season, Bellerin was overworked, to a extent that the player almost had to feature for 4000 minutes cumulatively even though he had a nagged ankle in some of the games. Not to repeat the same, Valencia is the perfect option.
Although, Hector Bellerin is set to recover by the end of this season we would not want to encore the same mistake we did last season, overplaying and exhausting the right-back only to end up seeing him injured.
Instead, Antonio Valencia can be a good enough short-term transfer for two years until Niles develops his game, where Valencia can play as a second right-back in the team and shoulder the pressure of Bellerin on himself.
WATCH: ANTONIO VALENCIA – FROM ECUADOR TO OLD TRAFFORD | THE DOCUMENTARY
WATCH: ANTONIO VALENCIA | THE WARRIOR
