It is well known that Arsenal need a centre half but who will it be. There are two potential candidates in the form of West Ham’s Winston Reid and St Etienne’s Loic Perrin.
Winston Reid who has only six months to run on his contract may be the better choice if it was down to Arsenal fans and would be available at a cut price due to his contract situation.
But West Ham fans will argue that he is not that good and looks better next to James Tomkins which can be likened to that of Per Mertesacker. The Daily Mail have been reporting that Arsenal have watched every game since November which Winston Reid has been involved in.
This would suggest that Reid is high on the list of targets as it is well known that Wenger likes a dossier on every player he targets.
However, reports in France would argue that Loic Perrin in the answer to Arsenals defensive problems. It was reported the other day that Arsenal had already spoken to Perrin personally but had not contacted his club.
According to La Parisian, Perrin is the primary target and Wenger wants the deal done quickly. It is being reported that Arsenal have held talks with his club but no official bid has been made yet. Also, it is believed that his agent travelled to the north London club a few weeks ago to hold talks with the Arsenal hierarchy. It is believed that these talks were positive which may make this deal happen quickly.
The French media outlet is also reporting that the free would be around €8 - €10 million euros. This would therefore be a cheap deal to complete. However, the reaction on Twitter has been mixed with fans suggesting that the deal may end up like Squillaci with others saying no one has seen him so we can’t judge.
Overall, it will be Wenger’s decision but if I was asked who I prefer then it would be Reid. The only reason I would go this way is because Reid has premier league experience which would be vital and help with the settling in period but Wenger know the French market well so Perrin may be his choice and let’s not forget he found Koscielny in Ligue 1 which people may have laughed at, at the time.