Arsenal have reportedly joined the likes of Aston Villa and Wolves in the race to sign Croatian international Borna Barisic from Rangers this summer.
According to a report from Football Insider, Arsenal are the latest entrant in the hunt for the transfer of Rangers and Croatia left-back Borna Barisic in the ongoing transfer window.
Barisic signed for Rangers in the summer of 2018 from boyhood club NK Osijek and has since been a regular in the first-team for Steven Gerrard’s side. The 28-year-old, to date, has racked up 112 appearances for the Gers, bagging seven goals and 32 assists so far. He was one of the key figures in the side that beat Celtic to the Scottish Premiership last season.
And it seems like Barisic’s exploits in Scotland have earned him a lot of admirers down south with Aston Villa, Wolves keen on the 20-time capped Croatian international, with Arsenal also now entering the race for the left-back.
Arsenal raided Rangers’ arch-rivals Celtic for a left-back a couple of years ago, signing Kieran Tierney and that has worked a treat for the Gunners. They have also been linked with another Scottish left-back in Josh Doig recently, and it seems like they are now set to go after another Scotland-based left-sided full-back in Barisic.
Mikel Arteta & co. are lacking cover in the left-back slot for Tierney, something that hurt them in the last season. Cedric Soares was tried in the role but in vain while the Arsenal manager also used midfielder Granit Xhaka as a makeshift left-back to some success. But the Gunners’ former captain is on his way out of the club this summer while Sead Kolasinac is also widely expected to depart.
So, someone like Barisic, with his experience, can be a handy signing for Arsenal. To that end, the Gunners were planning to scout the 28-year-old when Croatia played England at Wembley on Sunday in the UEFA Euro 2020. However, the Rangers’ star wasn’t part of the matchday squad for the Vatreni as they lost 1-0 to the Three Lions.
It now remains to be seen whether Arsenal do follow up on their reported interest in Barisic, who is contracted with Rangers till the summer of 2024, this summer or look at alternatives to bolster their left-back department.