Mega Kiwior upgrade: Arsenal initiate talks for "superb" £34m monster

If there is one thing that has come to define this season for Arsenal, it’s injuries.

Now, it’s true that Mikel Arteta’s side have not been at their free-flowing best for large parts of the campaign, but that’s hardly surprising when Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli have all missed a significant number of games.

Moreover, even though the club are on course to have the best defence for the second season running, they’ve had to deal with injuries to Ben White, Riccardo Calafiori and, most recently, Gabriel Magalhaes.

However, while there was a genuine concern that the absence of the Brazilian would derail the North Londoners’ Champions League campaign, Jakub Kiwior stepped up in a big way, bossing Real Madrid home and away.

Yet, if recent reports are to be believed, the club are now looking to sign another defender, someone who looks like they could be a big upgrade on the Polish international.

Arsenal’s defensive targets

While the focus of the club heading into the summer market does seem to be on attacking players, Arteta and Co are said to be looking at a few defensive players as well, such as Dean Huijsen.

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The Bournemouth ace has a release clause reportedly worth around £50m, and while that’s a sizable sum of money, it could prove worth it, as at just 20 years old, he’s already an established Premier League star and has now won two senior caps for Spain.

Another international said to have caught Arteta’s eye is that of Jules Kounde.

According to reports from late last month, the Gunners supposedly made an offer of around £55m for the versatile defender, but the Catalan giants swiftly rejected it, as he was deemed far too important to be sold.

However, another star has been added to the Gunners’ shortlist, someone who may be far more attainable: Evan Ndicka.

According to a recent report from the Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport, as relayed by Siamo La Roma, Arsenal and Newcastle United are both interested in the Ivorian international.

However, it would appear as if the North Londoners are ahead of their Premier League rivals at the moment, as the report has revealed that they’ve already initiated contact with I Giallorossi.

In more good news, it probably wouldn’t be an extortionate deal to complete either, as the report has claimed that Roma value their defensive stalwart at up to €40m, which is about £34m.

It might not be the most exciting transfer Arsenal could make, but given Ndicka’s ability and experience, he’d be a great addition to their squad and a significant upgrade on Kiwior.

How Ndicka compares to Kiwior

So, the first thing to say is that with William Saliba and Gabriel being the utterly immense pairing that they are, it seems hard to imagine that there is any central defender that Arsenal could sign this summer who’d displace one of them.

With that in mind, it seems almost certain then that Arteta and Co are interested in signing Ndicka to make him one of the club’s first-choice backups, which in turn would put him in direct competition with Kiwior for game time.

So, who comes out on top?

Well, when it comes to recent experience, it’s the “superb” Roma ace, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, who comes out on top, as he’s arguably one of the most important players at his club, making 47 appearances, all of which have been starts, across all competitions this term, scoring one goal and providing two assists along the way.

In contrast, the former Spezia ace has only recently seen his game time increase in North London and has made just 25 appearances, 16 of which have been starts, this season, in which he has also scored once and provided two assists.

How about when we take a look under the hood then? Which defender comes out on top when we compare their underlying numbers?

Unfortunately for the Polish ace, it’s once again the Paris-born monster who comes on top in the majority of relevant metrics, including, but not limited to, progressive carries, key and live passes, shot and goal-creating actions, tackles won, blocks, clearances, interceptions, ball recoveries, aerial duels won and more, all per 90.

Ultimately, while Kiwior has proven himself to be a reliable backup, Ndicka appears to be the better defender in practically every way, and therefore, Arsenal should do what they can to sign him this summer.

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