Roma defender Philippe Mexes could be on his way to the Premier league during the January transfer window, and is rumoured to be interested in a move to the Emirates Stadium according to Italian football site Itasportpress.it.
The 28-year-old’s contract is due to expire in June 2011, although Roma have not yet secured a deal beyond this date, leaving the French international free to sign for another club as soon as January.
Philippe Mexes has enjoyed a good start to this season’s campaign due to other injuries in Roma’s backline, appearing 7 times in all competitions for the Serie A side, and bagging a goal in the Champion’s League group stages…of course this could change in an instant for the Frenchman.
Arsene Wenger has been a long time admirer of the brawny centre-back and has kept tabs on the Frenchman’s development for quite sometime now. However, do the Arsenal faithful want to see another defender arrive at the Emirates Stadium this January? Many would agree that the club still look vulnerable in this specific area. Arsenal have had a few problems in their backline already this season, and the long-term injury sustained to Thomas Vermaelen has certainly done been capitalized on by a number of opposition.
The arrivals of Sebastien Squillaci from Sevilla, and Laurent Koscielny from Ligue 1 side Lorient last summer have undoubtedly healed a weakened backline, although, it still looks like Arsenal need to strengthen their defence a little bit more.
Philippe Mexes would be the perfect candidate for the job, if of course Wenger is serious about moving in for the French international this winter window. The Roma defender acquires power, agility, knows how to tackle, and has great positioning all in abundance; everything required to handle the Premier League. The centre-back does however have a volatile personality which lands him into trouble at times, which some fans may question and not like. Personally, I like to see players get stuck in and have a go, and Mexes is definitely one of these players.
However, Mexes has already appeared in the Champions League this season for Roma, meaning he can not play for the Gunners at all in this competition until next season (providing we finish in the top four of course). Nonetheless, Mexes would be a quality signing for Arsenal, and would certainly help the team challenge for honours come the end of May. I personally hope Wenger is serious about signing the Roma centre-back, as I am also a very keen admirer of the player and also think he would do extremely well in the red and white of Arsenal.
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Mexes is a good defender, but is a complete nutter which and his dismissals may cost us a few points. although he if he is on the market for free, and is only 28 yrs old, I would welcome him on board…cant be any worse than what we already got right?
I def think we should invest in Mexes, he is a proven defender and plays in top flight competitions. Barring Vermaelen, the rest of them are useless, Koscienlny makes too any mistakes, Djourou is not proven and Squillaci is good but is old and will probably not be there for too long knowing how Wenger treats players who are 30 and above.