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Arsenal eye move for Czech Republic star – Coquelin replacement?

By on March 30, 2017

According to a report in the Mirror, Arsenal are eyeing a move for Udinese star Jakub Jankto as Arsene Wenger looks to refresh his midfield options this summer.

Jankto has been impressing at Udinese since joining the club from Slavia Prague in 2014 and has now firmly established himself as a first team regular in Luigi Delneri’s side.

The 21-year-old has also broken in to the senior Czech Republic team, scoring on his debut against Lithuania last week, and his potential appears to have alerted Arsenal scouts.

The Mirror are citing a report from Italy that claims we are eyeing a move for the defensive midfielder this summer after being impressed by his ability to offer protection in front of the defence.

That is clearly something we’ve lacked in recent years and Jankto has now fuelled the speculation further after admitting he’d like to try a new league away from Serie A at some point in the near future.

Jankto is quoted as saying by the Mirror:

“I want to play abroad, to try some new experience. I’m curious, I want to know other things, I certainly do not see myself in Italy too long, certainly not up to 25 years.”

A defensive midfielder should be priority for whoever is in charge this summer [probably Wenger] as we simply don’t have the required protection in front of the back four.

Granit Xhaka is a deep-lying playmaker and isn’t cut out to do the dirty work as it’s become apparent he can’t tackle without getting himself booked or sent off.

Francis Coquelin isn’t the answer as he’s nowhere near the level we need to be title challengers so I’d love to see a proper defensive midfielder come in this summer.

I’m not sure Jankto has the experience required just yet but he sounds like he has a good future ahead of him so he might be worth a gamble as a back-up for now, but a key signing is needed in the middle of the park.

How many passes will Granit Xhaka make this weekend? How many tackles will Koscielny make? What about touches for Ramsey? And assists from Mesut Ozil? Sanchez and shots on goal? With a new feature called Player Bets you can say there will be at least 2 shots or 5 tackles etc. It’s a new way to bet from a new bookmaker.