Arsenal are closing in on the signing of centre-back Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia, according to reports.
The Gunners are yet to bring in a new striker but The Athletic reports that they ‘have made a defensive signing a priority this summer’ and Mosquera is top of their shopping list. It is claimed that Arsenal are working on a deal to sign the 20-year-old.
Mosquera, who turns 21 on Friday, joined Valencia’s junior ranks in 2016 having grown up in nearby Alicante, making his first team debut at 17.
He is now an ironclad first choice for Valencia, almost ever-present in La Liga in 2024-25 and David Ornstein and James McNicholas report that Mikel Arteta and Arsenal are sizing him up as cover in the centre of defence, where the impressive duo of Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba are stretched and bereft of specialist relief.
McNicholas wrote:
They want a player who can provide competition and cover for the first-choice pair of Gabriel and William Saliba.
With Takehiro Tomiyasu still sidelined with a long-term injury, Arsenal are a little light on depth at the heart of their defence – particularly on the right-hand side, where Mosquera has featured frequently.
This signing would also be about acquiring a player with significant potential to improve.
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The highly-rated Valencia youngster has represented Spain at every under-age level from Under-15 to Under-23 and was part of Santi Denia’s Under-21 team knocked out of the European Championship by England in Trnava, Slovakia, in last week’s quarter-final.
He missed just 101 minutes of La Liga playing time last season and ranked among the best players in the division when it comes to one-on-one tackling of opponents, showing a knack for ball recoveries as well as being blessed with the Arsenal-friendly ability to carry the ball out of defence.
If Arsenal get their man, Arteta and his coaching staff will be looking to his defensive skills, long passing accuracy and ball-playing ability to make him an able deputy at the back but will look to work on his relative weaknesses aerially.
Gunners centre-backs don’t necessarily spend a lot of their time booming headers back up the pitch but Gabriel and Saliba are important components of Arsenal’s imaginative and well-drilled set-piece work at both ends of the field.
Mosquera has been linked with several clubs this summer after nine years as a Valencia player.
As well as attracting reported interest from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and La Liga rivals Real Madrid, Mosquera is understood to be a target for Unai Emery and Aston Villa and has previously been linked with Liverpool.
But it appears that Arsenal have stolen a march on their fellow Premier League suitors for the young defender, while the push for Benjamin Sesko or Viktor Gyokeres at centre-forward continues.
