Arsenal want to bolster their defence during the summer transfer window, football.london understands.
Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi is on the north London club's shortlist of potential targets, football.london understands, whilst Bayer Leverkusen star Edmond Tapsoba is another player they have looked at as well. Now, Ed Aarons of the Guardian has reported that the Gunners are showing a strong interest in RB Leipzig defender Mohamed Simakan.
But who is Simakan and what would get bring to the Emirates Stadium if he were to sign? We've taken a further look below.
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Who is Mohamed Simakan?
Aged 23, Simakan is a talented defender born in Marseille, France.
Simakan plied his trade with Ligue 1 side Strasbourg between 2019 and 2021 before making the move to RB Leipzig two years ago. Since then, he has made a name for himself as one of the most talented young defenders in the German top flight, performing consistently as a centre-back as well as a right-back.
That kind of form has led to him being talked about as a potential target for a host of top European sides. Last summer, L’Equipe reported that Leipzig valued the player at around €40 million (£35 million), a number that you would assume has increased over the last 12 months considering his excellent form.
Why do Arsenal want him?
Arsenal's defensive issues have been exposed since first-choice right-centre-back William Saliba picked up a lower back injury two months ago. The Gunners had conceded just 25 times in the 27 Premier League matches Saliba started in before shipping 13 goals in the six matches that Rob Holding replaced him in the starting line-up.
That has highlighted a need for a new defender this summer and Simakan is certainly the right kind of profile for this. Like Gunners star Ben White, he is comfortable operating as a right-sided centre-half, as well as at right-back, meaning Mikel Arteta would have plenty of tactical versatility if the Frenchman were to join the north Londoners.
Arteta has shown a penchant for signing versatile players, especially at full-back, bringing in the aforementioned White, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko over the last 24 months - all of which are more than capable of operating in multiple different areas of the pitch. This means that the Spaniard can set up his team in a 2-3-5 or 3-2-5 shape when in possession to effectively utilise all zones of the field.
Simakan would certainly be capable of performing in the heart of that backline, on the right of the defence and even tucking in centrally in a more inverted position.
What would he bring to Arsenal?
To effectively perform as a centre-back in an Arteta system you need to be comfortable on the ball, particularly under pressure, physically dominant and capable of defending large areas of space - Simakan fits all of these criteria. His on-the-ball numbers rank extremely highly, averaging 5.16 progressive passes and 1.92 progressive carries this season, as per fbref.
For context, that puts him in the 92nd and 98th percentile when compared to other centre-backs in Europe's top five leagues. Of course, the fact that he has regularly played as a full-back contributes to this data being skewed but his ability to progress the ball consistently will no doubt be a factor for Arsenal's reported interest.
The 23-year-old's final third statistics are equally as impressive. According to transfermarkt, he has netted three goals and provided a further eight assists across all competitions in just 2,154 minutes of action, averaging a direct goal contribution every 196 minutes - elite numbers for a defender.
What has been said?
Strasbourg’s director of training Francois Keller previously compared Simakan to fellow French defender Raphael Varane due to their similar physical qualities, as per l’Equipe. "We quickly realised that we were dealing with a phenomenon", Keller said.
"He tore the place up… I said to myself that we had the new Varane. He was athletic, powerful, assured and calm."
The Bundesliga's official website has even compared him to footballing icon Lillian Thuram due to his 'effortless flexibility'.
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