Mikel Arteta is undergoing his first transfer window as a manager at Arsenal and it appears his priorities in January lie with fixing Arsenal’s leaky defence. Sky Sports reported that the Gunners have already enquired about a transfer fee, loan options and wages for Bayern Munich centre back Jerome Boateng. But with AC Milan now also interested, the north London side would be sensible to avoid repeating their deal for David Luiz, by bringing in another defender who is past his best.
So far this season, there is little discrepancy between Bayern Munich centre back’s in their Bundesliga performances. Boateng has performed on a similar level to teammates Lucas Hernandez and Niklas Sule, though where the significant difference has lied is in the Champions League.
The 31-year-old’s number of tackles drops stratospherically, against a higher calibre of opposition, from 1.4 per match domestically to 0.8 in Europe. Furthermore, his interceptions are also down, but most alarmingly to Arsenal should be that Boateng averages 2.4 fewer clearances per game in the Champions League than in the Bundesliga.
Boateng also records fewer average passes than Hernandez and Sule by 14.2 and 12.7 per game, respectively. The 31-year-old’s accuracy is lower than the pair he competes against in the starting line-up, indicating Boateng is not as capable with the ball at his feet as he once was previously.
Another reason to be cautious is that the 2014 World Cup-winning defender is struggling to impose himself in what is possibly the weakest Bayern Munich side of the past decade. The seven-time consecutive Bundesliga Champion’s sit third in the table, having struggled all season long, leading to the sacking of manager Niko Kovac earlier in the campaign. There is little evidence to suggest that while trying to adapt to a new league, the 31-year-old’s displays would improve.
There is no profit to be made off of Boateng at this stage in his career and with William Saliba set to return from his loan at the end of the season, Arteta would be better off either recalling the defender now or waiting. The Frenchman has a promising future at the Emirates Stadium, while Boateng would be an outlay best avoided.
