Why Arsenal targeting Worrall would be surplus to their requirements
According to Football Insider (h/t Nottinghamshire Live), Arsenal are interested in Nottingham Forrest defender Joe Worrall.
Worrall’s fine form in the Championship had caught the attention of the Gunners, who intend to bring home a centre-back when the winter transfer window opens soon.
Nottingham’s defence has been top-notch this season, with the Sabri Lamouchi-led side conceding just 14 goals – the second-best in the league after Leeds, who have conceded just 10.
Forest are currently fourth on the table and Sabri should be grateful to none other than the young Worrall, who has been impressive at the back for Forest.
The Englishman has proved his worth within the side by featuring in all their 18 matches this season.
Worrall, a Nigel Doughty Academy graduate, was also given the captain’s armband in Forest’s Carabao Cup ties against Fleetwood Town and Derby County, further signifying his importance.
However, he was left out of the third-round clash against Arsenal at the Emirates in September.
Meanwhile, it has not been the smoothest of rides for Arsenal, as they were pushed to eighth in the Premier League table after a 2-2 draw against a relegation-threatened Norwich side.
They are probably going through their worst period in recent times, with manager Unai Emery being shown the exit door after a run of seven successive games without a win.
Emery, who took Arsenal to a fifth-place finish last year had lost the Champions League berth by whiskers.
Keeping this in mind and hoping for a revival of fortunes, the Spaniard had made five new signings in the summer.
Nicolas Pepe, Gabriel Martinelli, David Luiz, William Saliba, and Kieran Tierney were the new inclusions, who were brought in to add more strength to the Gunners squad.
Emery also landed talented midfielder Dani Ceballos from Real Madrid on loan in order to bring some creativity in the middle.
Except for the young Martinelli, who has impressed in the Europa League with 3 goals and 4 assists, the rest have failed to deliver.
Pepe, meanwhile, has found life difficult in English conditions and is struggling in the league with a mere one goal from 12 games. Ceballos, on the other hand, is currently injured and has lost his place in the squad after some impressive displays early in the season.
Having managed just 20 goals from 14 league games, the Gunners attackers have not been in the best of forms so far. Of the 20, skipper and star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang alone has struck 10, while the rest seem to be lost for ideas.
Hence, the Gunners attackers are to be blamed just equally as their defence, which has conceded 21 goals so far.
Moreover, Arsenal already have as many as five centre backs – Sokratis Papastathopoulos, David Luiz, Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi and Konstantinos Mavropanos in their ranks, and Worrall’s addition would clearly be a wastage of resources.
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For Arsenal, the best way ahead would be to regroup under a new manager and play with the current lot rather than investing in someone new like Worrall.
Verdict
With its attackers clearly lost at sea, Arsenal has plenty of problems to be solved up front than in defence, at the moment. Also, the squad has so many options at the back and moving for Worrall would just be surplus to their requirements.