3 Potential Replacements For Bacary Sagna at Arsenal

After a voluminous amount of speculation and rumours, Bacary Sagna has finally agreed terms with Manchester City over a move to the Etihad whichwill consequently end his 7 year association with Arsenal. The French international hasagreeda 3 year deal which will reportedly fetch him100,000 pounds per week.His contractual dispute had become the talk of the town with the player himself stating that the hype surrounding his inadequacy to reach an agreement with Arsenal regarding his future is affecting hispersonal form. Arsenal has had a history of beingpowerlesswhen it comes to retainingtheir star players, namely Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and now Bacary Sagna. His departure means that Arsenal have the inexperienced Carl Jenkinson as the only remaining option to play at right-back.However, it has been reported by various British tabloids thatWenger is now on the lookout for a replacement for Sagna and is willing to splurge the money in order to secure the best deal which will end Arsenals woes. Quite a few names have come up as potential replacements for the former Auxerre right-back and here we evaluate who fits the bill, the best. 

#1 Serge Aurier

The Toulouse right-back has been touted as Wenger’s number one option to replace Sagna and there are plenty of reasons to it too. First of all, it is his versatility which makes him a stand out choice – for Wenger and for us. Aurier can play at the heart of a defence, on the right and also operates as a right defensive midfielder. He is extremely well built, strong, athletic and a genuine tackler averaging 2.8 tackles per match. His concentration to opponents movements is commendable and he serves as an indirect set piece threat, sneaking a goal or two occasionally but causing a threat most of the times.

Being a right-back, the Ivorian loves to dribble his way to the opponent’s goal on the right flank and his crossing abilities are preposterous. Another impressive fact is the number of times he has been dribbled past – 0.3 times per match. He is the kind of player every team needs and he can deal with the physicality of the Premier League easily. He wins 90% of the aerial duels in which he indulges, another interesting fact which adds to his meritorious list of abilities. However, one weakness of his is his retention of the ball. He loses the ball way too many times which can prove dangerous.

He would be the ideal choice for Wenger with the player himself interested in making a switch to the Premier League.