Finally a world class CB? Wenger identified Mertesacker replacement to hijack Chelsea deal

The race is heating up to sign Roma central defender Kostas Manolas with Arsene Wenger hoping to position himself as the ideal suitor. Manolas has been on the radar for some of Europe’s top clubs for a while now, with Chelsea, Barca and Real all making inquiries at one point.

This comes after some intense criticism of the Arsenal defense this season as they seemed strong in the first half of the year but faded away when the going got tough. The central defenders, Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista, have looked shaky at times and shipped goals at important moments. This has left the title chasers out of the running in the home-strait.

Laurent Koscielny has played well for most of the year and Paulista has not looked too bad, but the German center-half, Per Mertesacker, has looked off the pace and Arsenal fans have called for a replacement.

Goal reckon that Kostas Manolas is the ideal replacement and Arsene Wenger should open his wallet in order to secure the Greece internationals signature. Arsenal are thought to have been scouting Manolas in recent months to ensure that he is the perfect replacement.

They would have to move fast though; new Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is plotting a double raid on Roma with Manolas said to be half of it. Arsenal have tried to sign Manolas before but refused to pay the £12million asking price; it now looks as though they might be paying double for him just a few years later.