Arsenal: Signing Umtiti is a must this summer, but Alaba should be avoided

Silly season is truly upon us, and Arsenal are leading the rumours with two huge names being linked with the Gunners.

According to the Independent, World Cup winner Samuel Umtiti and Bayern Munich star David Alaba are both priority signings for Unai Emery this summer, with both players in with a chance of leaving their clubs to make way for new players.

Arsenal are in need of a defensive restructuring this off-season as they look to challenge for the Premier League in the future, and in Umtiti and Alaba the north London side will have the foundation to genuinely challenge for the title. However, the fact of the matter is that they don’t need both to achieve this as Umtiti has established himself as one of the world’s best defenders, so he could easily steady the ship and get them on the right path.

Ask any Arsenal fan what position of the pitch they believe needs the most improvement, nine times out of the 10 they will say the centre-back position, and this is why the club should be going all out for Umtiti whilst maybe avoiding going for Alaba as well.

Whilst the Gunners do need attention in the left-back position and Alaba provides a significant improvement over Sead Kolasinac and Nacho Monreal as well as being able to play in central defence, Arsenal need a natural centre-back far more urgently, and Umtiti would be the perfect man.

The French international has achieved a lot in his short career for both club and country. The former Lyon academy graduate was a starting defender for Les Bleus in this summer’s World Cup where he scored the winning goal in the semi-finals against Belgium.

Interestingly, Umtiti has even been labelled as the ‘best centre-back’ by Barcelona legend Xavi (as per So Foot), so there’s an added incentive to spend Stan Kroenke’s money on bringing in the defender.

As well as making Umtiti the priority over Alaba, it is likely that Arsenal will only be able to afford one or the other. The 25-year-old is valued at Barcelona at £63 million (as per Transfer Markt), whereas the Austrian international is valued at £49.5 million (as per Transfer Markt)

With the Gunners only having a reported budget of £40 million, as previously reported by the Mirror, Emery needs to make the smart decision and make Umtiti a priority signing for the club whilst looking elsewhere for alternatives for Alaba. It’s vitally important that the Gunners are smart this summer as they look to build on the season so far.

Arsenal fans, who should the club sign this summer? Let us know!