MY ACCOUNT
Mikel Arteta has reportedly set his sights on Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi.
Arsenal are in the thick of a Premier League title race but the loss of William Saliba to injury has coincided with a number of dropped points, which has handed Manchester City the advantage.
Guehi could therefore prove an astute signing for the North Londoners, who will need a deeper squad to cope with the demands of Champions League football next season.
We analyse what qualities he could add to the Gunners squad as they prepare to visit Newcastle this afternoon.
Perfect profile
Crystal Palace head coach Roy Hodgson has explained how rounded Guehi’s profile is, both in terms of ability and mentality.
The 75-year-old said: “[Guehi’s] maturity has impressed me. He’s an intelligent player who thinks a lot about his game.
“He is anxious to become better all the time. He’s not satisfied with making the leap he has made since leaving Chelsea.
“He looks like a centre-back who has got a lot of qualities. He’s got pace, he understands and likes to defend. He is good on the ball. If you’re ticking boxes of what I like my centre-back to look like, he ticks so many boxes.”
Desire to defend
As Hodgson suggested, Guehi is clearly a defender who enjoys his work off the ball.
Ahead of this weekend, no other Palace player had won possession in the defensive third more times in the Premier League than the centre-back (140).
The 22-year-old had also made an impressive seven interceptions in his own box, demonstrating his ability to make potentially goal-saving interventions.
Good on the ball
Hodgson also hailed Guehi’s skills in possession and it is perhaps this quality that would be most useful to Arteta’s Arsenal.
The central defender’s distribution is impressive, completing a squad-leading 1,610 passes prior to Matchday 35.
Notably, 242 of those passes went into the opposition half, providing evidence of his ability to break lines when necessary.
Rob Holding — who has largely deputised for Saliba in the Frenchman’s absence — is a solid penalty-box defender but lacks the confidence on the ball and pace of his younger team-mate. Guehi would certainly solve both of those problems.
Patrick’s praise
Former Palace boss Patrick Vieira was adamant that Guehi will eventually become an England regular, despite him ultimately missing out on Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad.
He said: “Players like [Guehi] who want to be there at the top and represent his country, to not be part of the squad is a disappointment.
“He has shown a really good [reaction]. He’s ambitious and wants the best for himself, to represent his country. Working really well, really hard.
“When you look at his performance in the last year-and-a-half, he’s been really consistent. He just has to keep working like that and there will be a time where he plays in a World Cup.”
Moving to a side in the Champions League would offer the three-cap international a greater platform to push for Three Lions involvement.
Newcastle next
Arteta may well wish he could sign and start Guehi against Newcastle, given the team’s defensive woes of late.
The Gunners have not kept a clean sheet in seven Premier League games without Saliba, failing to win four.
Jakub Kiwior made his first league start in the 3-1 win over Chelsea but the Polish defender is naturally left-footed, so Arteta will look forward to having a second high-quality right-footed centre-back to call upon next season.
Guehi could be the man to fill that vacancy.
