There have been a few names mentioned as replacements for Arsenal right-back Bacary Sagna who is looking more likely to be leaving the Emirates this summer as failure to sign a new contract is dragging on while all around him people are committing themselves to new deals including Tomas Rosicky and Per Mertesacker just in the past few days.
It would appear though no matter how much the French international says he loves Arsenal his days at the Emirates are numbered with the club refusing to give him more than a one year deal which by the way is what Czech playmaker Rosicky signed.
Sagna knows that both French Ligue 1 moneybags Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco would like to sign him so is holding out for a better deal at Arsenal, which will probably never happen, so with this in mind we thought we would offer three possible Sagna replacements for the Gunners.
Seamus Coleman
Team Everton: Estimated value £15 million
Everton right-back Seamus Coleman has been on a few clubs radar’s as a possible summer signing, and not least Manchester United manager David Moyes who first signed the Irish international in 2008 for the meager price of just £60,000 from Sligo Rovers before turning him into one of the best defenders in the Premiership.
At only 25-years-old the Irishman has plenty of years left in him which will see Everton determined to not let him go by offering him a new contract that the Toffee’s boss Martinez hinted at in January when he said: “I’m sure at the end of the season we will look at his contract,’ said Martinez. ‘His role in the team is growing, he is getting more important. He is happy at Everton and has a long-term contract but I always said that players that do well and perform, it is my intention to sit down in the summer and reassess.”
What we like about Coleman for Arsenal is that not only can he defend, but he loves to go forward and score goals which along with already being a proven commodity in the Premiership would not be a gamble but Arsenal will certainly not be the only club trying to sign him.
Lukasz Piszczek
Team Borussia Dortmund: Estimated value £14 million
The seasoned Polish international with 35 caps for his country is one of the workhorses of the Bundesliga side with manager Jürgen Klopp putting him in the same class as Barcelona’s Dani Alves yet saying he is better than the Brazilian defensively while still always looking to push forward.
The 28-year-old just signed a new contract with the north Westphalia club till 2017 so do not expect his quoted estimate price to be correct especially seeing how Dortmund are already losing Robert Lewandowski at the end of the season, Piszczek will be the one Pole they will be eager to keep with Klopp saying back in 2012 when Real Madrid were interested in him: “When I hear that someone wants to sign Piszczek for between 10 and 15 million, I can only say we aren’t a cheap discount store.”
Santiago Arias
Team PSV Eindhoven: estimated value £8 million
Recently Arias has also been linked to David Moyes should he fail to sign his former player Everton’s Seamus Coleman. The 22-year-old right-back moved from his native Colombia to Portugal where he mainly played in Sporting Lisbon’s B team before being transferred to Holland at the start of the season to play for PSG.
So far he has made 18 appearances and scored twice, and while he does not quite yet match up to either Coleman or Piszczek when it comes to experience should he have a good World Cup with Columbia his value would certainly increase.
