Arsenal manager Unai Emery wants to bring Juventus defender Medhi Benatia to the Emirates, according to reports in Italy.
When Leonardo Bonucci left to join AC Milan at the start of last summer, Benatia believed that he was going to be given the chance to be Giorgio Chiellini’s centre-back partner for a few seasons but Bonucci returned to Juventus during the transfer window and as such, the Morrocan has found game time hard to come by.
31-year-old Benatia wants to play regular first-team football and he would likely be able to get that at Arsenal.
Questions remain about Shkodran Mustafi’s long-term future as Arsenal’s first-choice defender, whilst Sokratis Papastathopoulos seems to be a backup option at best. Rob Holding has impressed and has a chance to become a regular starter but Emery could certainly do with adding another centre-back to his squad.
AC Milan are keen to sign Benatia too and have apparently offered around €15m for him, so Arsenal will need to make a similar offer to have a chance to sign the Morrocan star.
