3. Aymeric Laporte
The next target is a young French centre back at Athletic Bilbao. Maybe that’s all Arsène needs to hear before signing him. But in all seriousness, Aymeric Laporte is a 19 year old central defender who has been linked with Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Bilbao have kept 12 clean sheets in the season, the 5th best in the competition. Laporte’s strengths include passing and even likes to carry the ball forward, much like Laurent Koscielny. He is also a great tackler, and at 189cm he could be unstoppable and impossible to get through. With Per Mertesacker being 29 years of age and Koscielny turning 29 in September, Arsenal should be planning for the future whilst they have their best central defence partnerships together in their prime. Laporte could join a team who have one of the best pairings in Europe and learn not only how to become a world class defender but also learn to play the Arsenal way. His current release clause is €36 million which is a fee unlikely of being paid by Wenger, but with the possible €10 million departure of club captain Thomas Vermaelen, Arsenal will have no choice but to purchase another centre back. It would make a lot of sense to replace him with a possible future captain of the club.
Likelihood rating: Aymeric Laporte: 7/10 (Exceptional talent but price for his age and experience could be too much)