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Arsenal table formal offer to sign 27-year-old as Emery looks to secure 1st signing

By on June 6, 2019

According to TuttoMercatoWeb, Arsenal have submitted a £22m offer for Thomas Meunier as Unai Emery looks to kick off his summer spending with a deal for the Paris Saint-Germain full-back.

Emery is expected to be a busy man this summer as he desperately needs to overhaul an ageing squad that finished fifth in the league and were beaten by Chelsea in the final of the Europa League.

Sorting out our defence is a priority as we shipped 51 goals in the Premier League last season and while a commanding centre-back is desperately needed, we also need to bring in support for Hector Bellerin at right-back.

Stephan Lichtstiener was a disastrous signing so he’s leaving this summer while Carl Jenkinson will also go if we can find a buyer. Ainsley Maitland-Niles did a decent job filling-in for Bellerin while he’s been out injured but we need a specialist right-back to compete with the Spaniard next season.

Meunier has emerged as a prime target and it seems we’ve now formalised our interest as TuttoMercatoWeb claim Arsenal have tabled an opening offer worth £22m [€25m] for the 27-year-old PSG defender.

The Italian outlet doesn’t mention whether PSG have responded to our supposed bid but it seems a generous offer for a player who’s in the final year of his contract and hasn’t been a key first team player over the past few months.

Meunier has made over 100 appearances since joining PSG from Brugge in 2016 and he’s provided an impressive 20 assists and 12 goals in that time but he was in and out the starting eleven last season under Thomas Tuchel.

The Belgian international now looks set for a move this summer and it appears Arsenal are keen to lure him to the Emirates with Emery hoping to be reunited having worked with the right-back during his time in Paris.

Meunier would be a solid addition to the squad but I question the wisdom of spending half of our reported £45m transfer kitty on a player who will essentially be a second choice right-back when Bellerin is fit.

Arsenal need to sign a top class centre-back, a central midfielder and a wide attacker this summer, as well as strengthen other squad positions, so I’d suggest it would be wiser to put the £22m towards those priority signings rather than spending it on Meunier.