Arsenal working on the agreement to sign Valencia Defend Cristhian Mosquera

Arsenal works on an agreement to sign the defender of Valencia Cristhian Mosquera.

The North London Club has made a defensive signature a priority this summer with Spain Youth International, 20 years old, currently their favorite option.

Mosquera has been with Valence since the age of 12, progressing in the ranks of the Academy before making its first team debut in January 2022.

He made 90 appearances for the Liga Club in total, including 41 last season. This included playing 90 minutes in 37 of the 38 club championship games.

Arsenal, Arsenal considers Mosquera on a right foot and to physically take the ideal cover for the twinning of first choice Gabriel and William Saliba. Previously, they watched Dean Huijsen before leaving Bournemouth for Real Madrid earlier this summer.

Saliba (51 appearances last season) and Gabriel (42) played the majority of central defense matches in the last quarter with Jakub Kiwior, Jurrien Timber, Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori the safeguard options.

Born from Colombian parents in Alicante, Spain, Mosquera is also eligible to play for the Senior Colombia team, but has appeared regularly thanks to the configuration of the Spanish youth, including in the European Championship of under 2 years of this summer.

Why the arsenal needs a defender

By the correspondent of Arsenal James McNicholas

Arsenal has been on the market for a new central defender for some time. They planned to move for the Brazilian teenager Vitor Reis before the January window, but he ended up in Manchester City.

They then continued Dean Huijsen de Bournemouth, but he obtained his favorite move to Real Madrid.

Now their goal is formed on Mosquera. They want a player who can ensure competition and coverage for the pair of first choices of Gabriel and William Saliba. With Takehiro Tomiyasu still sidelined with a long -term injury, Arsenal is a little light in the heart of their defense – especially on the right side, where Mosquera presented frequently.

This signature would also be to acquire a player with important potential to improve. Arsenal signed Gabriel to a new contract and aims to do the same with Saliba, but that would be a purchase in a long -term view. Arsenal hopes that, under Mikel Arteta, Mosquera can become a central departure defender.

What could Arsenal get?

Analysis of the writer of football data Thom Harris

Mosquera’s rise in power at the first Valence team was impressive, working to replace the injured man in August 2023 and play almost all the matches since. From the start of last season, only Florian Lejeune accumulated more minutes on the outdoor field than the young central defender, was 21 years old on Friday.

Like Gabriel Magalhaes d’Arsenal, he is a passive defender, ranking 42nd of the 62 central defenders of the Liga this season for tackle attempts for 1000 opposition keys, a metric that tells us how frequency he seems to “stick a foot in” with his team out of possession.

When he opts for the ball, however, he generally resumes – his “real” tackle victory rate is 72.6%, the higher fifth of the division. At 191 cm (6 feet 3 inches), there is a balance on how he addresses his defensive work, rarely committing faults, preferring to sweep the bullets in bulk and defend space, but strong and clean in his challenges when necessary.

Arsenal also will be assumed will be its versatility; As we can see on the position card below, it is happy to play on each side of the defense and even to protect the flanks on the right back, from its long progress and its solid defense in a vs-one allowing it to keep track of delicate wingers.

The construction of the defense was not a priority for Valence, but Mosquera is happy to transport the ball to the midfield and maintained a healthy precision of 91.2%. His performances for Spain at euros U21 this summer, finishing 98 assists and lying on a pass against Romania, have shown that he can intensify and play a more advanced role and playing ball.

If there is a weakness for the game of Mosquera, it would be its aerial capacity, unusually inconsistent for a player of his physical stature. But there is a lot of room for development here, an incredibly composed central defender, thrown into Deep End from Liga to adolescence and remarkably emerging.

(Juan Manuel Serrano Arce / Getty Images)