If you cast your mind back to the January transfer window, there was plenty of hope in the air for Arsenal fans. The general consensus was that Mikel Arteta needed just a few signings (a defender, midfielder and an attacker) to solidify his squad depth for the busy run-in to secure the title.
In the end, Arteta opted for Jakub Kiwior, Jorginho and Leandro Trossard. Of the three signings, Trossard was a good one, the jury is still out on Kiwior and Jorginho can be seen as a complete write off.
One player who they were interested in signing before Kiwior is Real Valladolid right-back Ivan Fresneda. The 18-year-old was and still is thought to be the next best thing in La Liga. However, the Gunners pulled out of the race given the club’s £35m valuation of Fresneda.
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Arsenal revive interest in Ivan Fresneda
Well, fast forward six months and Real Valladolid have now been relegated, meaning they cannot justify such big demands from interested clubs. Therefore, Arsenal would like to revive their interest in signing Ivan Fresneda, according to The Sun.
Signing Fresneda does make sense. Mikel Arteta desperately needs a versatile full-back signing, which would allow Ben White to return to his centre back position if needed. Defensive injury issues is what caused Arsenal to capitulate towards the end of the season – If they had sufficient cover at right-back, then White could have played at centre-back but this wasn’t possible.
Let it be known that Fresneda won’t walk straight into this Arsenal team. He is 18 years old and will need time to adjust to the Premier League before he can make a claim for the first team. Therefore, it’s important that the Gunners go about this business quickly to give Fresneda a full pre-season, avoiding the mistake they made with Fabio Vieira.
Do you think Arsenal should sign Ivan Fresneda?