Arsenal Send Scouts To Watch 6ft 3in CB Ahead Of January Move

Arsenal’s plan to sign a defender in the January transfer window seem to have kicked on following reports that the club are interested in signing Ipswich Town defender Tyrone Mings. The 21 year old English defender joined the Championship (English second tier) a year ago, and was playing in the lower reaches of non league football before that.

The 6ft 3in defender was with the Southampton Academy for 8 years, prior to being released from the South coast club in 2009. He has played predominantly as a left back for Ipswich Town since he joined the Championship club for £10,000 last summer.

According to reports, Arsenal’s chief scout Steve Rowley was at Portman Road to watch Tyrone Mings play.

With his height (6ft 3in), Arsene Wenger could be looking to bring him in as a potential central defender. However, the speculation linking him to Arsenal, and the report that Arsenal’s chief scout was at Portman Road to see him play in a Championship match against Blackburn means the club is really running the rule on him with a view to signing him.

It calls into the question why the club would want to settle for an inexperienced player, when the present squad is crying out for another established play in defence, and not one still learning his trade as there are already enough players along these lines in the club ala Hector Bellerin, Calum Chmabers, Isaac Hayden and Sami Ajayi.

The club needs a defender that can push both Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny to maintain their standard, and an inexperienced player in the mood of the Tyrone Mings would not do much along that line to cause both the German and French duo to stay on their feet.

Tyrone Mings was playing in the lower leagues of English football just two years ago, and has struggled since he was released from the Saints Academy in the South coast. His career path to date raises the question whether he is truly of Arsenal quality, and why he has spent the formative years of his footballing career in the lower leagues if he is really that good a footballer.

No doubt Arsenal have over the years unearthed some rare gems in the last couple of years during the Arsene Wenger era. However, despite the odd cases, not all have come good. Yet when it comes to Tyrone Mings, there is no clear sight on which category he would fall into, but from all indices, Arsenal currently needs a defender with bags of experience, and not one still learning his trade in the game.