The Gunners will enter the race alongside four other clubs to sign Lille’s 26-year-old right-back Sebastien Corchia.
According to a report by Transfer Market Web, the French defender is being targeted by Arsenal and four other clubs – Southampton, AS Roma, Wolfsburg and Torino.
Corchia made his France debut against Ivory Coast towards the end of 2016. Prior to that, he started his professional career with Le Mans, before joining Lille from Sochaux in 2014.
Although it has been a forgettable season for Lille, Corchia has had a great run as a full back. He has played over 300 matches in the top flight of French football. This season, Corchia has played every league game to date, with a goal to boot as well.
Corchia has been one of the key men in Lille’s team this season. His individual performances have been splendid, but there is little scope for him to grow in a team which can’t guarantee a top ten finish.
The France international is known to make shrewd runs, is light on his feet and possesses excellent balance. Defensively, Corchia prefers to be instinctive and his instincts have been on point.
However, one aspect that he needs to work on is his lack of concentration on the field. Often, he lets the ball out of his grasp due to lesser focus, and he will need to work with him on the same if he is considering moving to a bigger club.
His contract with Lille is due expire after the 2017-18 campaign and he has been attracting the attention of the Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie-A.
Arsenal and Southampton are the two Premier League clubs vying for his services, and given a choice, Corchia will be more inclined to choose Arsenal since he will have better opportunities there as Wenger looks to rebuild his team ahead of next season.
Arsenal’s other right-backs – Carl Jenkinson and Mathieu Debuchy – are expected to leave the Emirates this summer. Also, Hector Bellerin looks like he is on his way out the Emirates as well with La Liga giants Barcelona keen on signing the defender.
Thus, it would be the ideal time to sign Corchia since he will have chances of becoming a permanent member of Arsenal’s XI and offer more variation in terms of his performances. Wenger needs solid wing-backs ever since he opted to play with a three-man back line and with Bellerin poised to leave, Corchia might just be the right choice.
