Arsenal have announced the signing of Schalke left back Sead Kolasinac on a free transfer.
The Bosnian has signed for the Gunners after playing six years in the Bundesliga for Schalke.
The 23-year-old defender has joined Arsenal on a five-year contract and will earn just above £142,000 a week.
Kolasinac had a great season at Schalke last season and was part of the Bundesliga team of the season ahead of the likes of David Alaba and Marcel Schmelzer. He is a great reader of the game and understands and interprets the game really well. He finished with five assists last season, the highest for any Bundesliga defender.
The Bosnian is quite aggressive on the field. He can also play in a variety of positions. Considering Arsene Wenger’s tactical switch to the 3-4-2-1 formation, this is a great move by the Gunners to find a player who could play at least in 3 positions- Left back, centre back and wing back as well.
Kolasinac created 23 chances last season with three goals and fI’ve assists in 24 games last season. He has been very consistent of late, and has shown massive improvements at a young age.
This move however, might mean the end of Kieran Gibbs’ career at Arsenal. The injury prone English International has had too many chances at the club and has not managed to fulfill the expectations of the manager and the fans. Newcastle have shown interest in Gibbs and have also put in a £15 million bid for the Arsenal left back. Kolasinac joining the club might be the end of Kieran Gibbs’ Arsenal career.
Speaking to the Arsenal website, Kolasinac said:
It feels really good and I’m pleased to be here. I’m happy to have signed at Arsenal for five years and I’m really pleased.
Arsenal has a huge tradition and I followed the club as a young boy, in the days of Jens Lehman and Thierry Henry. Arsenal has always been a club that is well recognised in Europe and I’m pleased to be here.
I think my main strength is my mentality. I am a player who will try to help the team as well as I can. My strengths of my mentality.
Arsenal cleverly announced the signing via twitter in this cryptic tweet.
Right, time for a quick quiz…
The following ???? players have been signed by Arsène Wenger – can you spot them all? pic.twitter.com/ewEpmDRRs4
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) June 6, 2017
While Arsenal might have got Kolasinac for cheap, they look ready to fight Real Madrid for Kylian Mbappe. Arsenal are set to increase their bid for Kylian Mbappe to £122 million. Manager Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidiz, club’s chief executive, were spotted in Nice in France last weekend. With Monaco, the club Mbappe plays for, being just a 30 minute drive from Nice, the photos of the Arsenal duo in Nice have started happy talks among the Arsenal fans.
