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Arsenal to pay £19m to sign Wolfsburg star – report

By on May 28, 2016

According to the International Business Times, Arsenal are set to pay £19million to sign Wolfsburg left-back Ricardo Rodriguez this summer.

Arsene Wenger could be forced in to the market to sign a replacement for Kieran Gibbs with the 26-year-old tipped to leave North London this summer after losing his first team place to Nacho Monreal.

We’ve been linked with a few youngsters in recent weeks but it looks as though the boss is ready to bring in a more established name as the IBT are quoting a report from German outlet Kicker that claims we’re ready to renew our interest in Rodriguez.

We were linked with the Swiss international last summer and the report suggests that Wenger will go back in again this summer to trigger the 23-year-old’s buy-out clause – which is set at around £19m (€25m).

The IBT state that Arsenal’s youth director Andreas Jonker has persuaded Wenger to try and lure Rodriguez to the Emirates as he knows the full-back well from their time together at Wolfsburg.

Rodriguez had another strong campaign in the Bundesliga this season and is regarded as one of the most exciting full-backs in Europe. He’s also got 35 international caps for Switzerland to his name, so at least Granit Xhaka would know a familiar face on the first day of pre-season training.

However, I have my doubts over this rumour. If Gibbs leaves, I expected Wenger to bring in a youngster like Ben Chilwell. Someone who would cost under £5m and could learn the ropes from Monreal before taking over in a couple of years.

Why on earth would Arsene spend almost £20m of his remaining transfer budget on a left-back? We don’t need a new first choice left-back so it would be crazy to spend that sort of money on a back-up, no matter how good he is, so I just don’t understand it.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the look of Rodriguez and would welcome him at Arsenal. But I just don’t understand the sense of spending £19m on another full-back right now.  We’d be far better off bringing in a young talent for around £5m, and saving our money for a top class centre-back and striker.