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[Video] Has Arsene Wenger found his new centre-back?
Francis Coquelin has revealed that he played as a centre-back in Arsenal training yesterday prompting speculation that Arsene Wenger is trying to turn the midfielder in to a central defender.
The boss confirmed earlier this week that he’s looking to strengthen his options at the back after Per Mertesacker was ruled out for five months with a serious knee injury that he picked up during our friendly draw with Lens.
A whole host of names such as Shkodran Mustafi and Fabien Schar have been linked with a move to the Emirates in recent weeks with the media suggesting that we’re actively searching the market for a new defender.
However, some fans were ‘outraged’ last night after midfielder Coquelin revealed on Arsenal’s Snapchat that he played as a centre-back in training yesterday. The good news is that in Coquelin’s own words he was ‘bossin it’ at centre-back so perhaps he’s taken to the role well.
Here is the video:
Coquelin reveals on Arsenal's Snapchat that he has been playing at centre-back in training!#afc pic.twitter.com/ZN7JHqRmTr
— UberArsenal™ (@UberAFC) July 27, 2016
Some supporters aren’t happy as they think this is Wenger penny-pinching again. The boss does have a history of playing players in unfamiliar positions rather than dipping in to the transfer market and we all know he loves an ‘internal solution’.
So…have we found our new centre-back? No, I wouldn’t be getting too upset just yet. The lads are on tour and we have just two recognised centre-backs [Rob Holding and Calum Chambers] over in the United States as Koscielny, Gabriel and Mertesacker are unavailable.
Coquelin will just have been filling-in for a few training sessions and I highly doubt Wenger sees the French midfielder as the answer to our defensive problems in the long-term.
The boss has said he’s in the market for another centre-back so we just need to stop the bitching and moaning and let him do his job in finding the right player at the right price.