There have been a lot of rumours flying about over the past few weeks about Arsenal possibly acquiring another defender this January. The long-term injury picked up by Thomas Vermaelen earlier on in the season has left Wenger questioning the strength of his back-line.
Roma’s Philippe Mexes, Juventus Centre-back Mamadou Sakho, and just recently, Borussia Dortmunds’ Neven Subotic have all been mentioned as potential targets this winter, but there is one man who desperately wants to make the switch to the Emirates this January…Renat Yanbaev. The player was quoted in the Daily Mail earlier in the week saying:
“My agent told me there was interest from Arsenal, but that I didn’t have enough games for the national team. Advocaat says he doesn’t see me at left back for the national team. I need to work hard and prove that I deserve a call-up.”
Yanabaev finished off with:
“I’m willing to lose money for a move abroad. I want to play for a European club, but so far it hasn’t worked out.”
It’s good to see that Yanbaev wants to play for Arsenal but I don’t think any of the clubs fans will know who the hell he is (of course I maybe wrong) but for those who are unaware of him, allow me to fill you in.
Well, first off there is a bit of confusion about how his surname is spelt. I have seen Yanabaev, Yanabayev and all sorts, but after looking up the official Russian squad on the net, his name is in fact Yanbaev. Right, on we go, Yanbaev is 26 years of age and is currently contracted to Russian League side Lokomotiv Moscow, and has been since 2007.
Yanbaev has played his entire professional career in Russia so far, where he has appeared for a total of five clubs within the national league. The Russian’s club career total (to this date) tallies up to 178 appearances (in all competitions) and scored 6 goals. His international record currently stands at 9 appearances and no goals since 2008.
The 5’10’’ Russian is primarily a left-back by trade, but can also be used as an emergency wing-back or a left sided-midfielder.
Having seen clips of him on Youtube, he reminds me a lot of fellow national compatriot Andrey Arshavin. Yanbaev possesses great pace and dribbling skills, as well as the ability to finish with either foot.
Yanbaev would not come at a high price should Wenger decide to approach him this winter, a fee in the region of £4-10 million should be enough to acquire his services. Furthermore, the player has indicated that he would be willing to take a pay-cut in order for the move to transpire. However, do Arsenal currently need a player like this amongst their ranks? Or should they in fact snap him up this January? I’ll leave this open for debate.
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Arsenal must get a defender because are current ones are not up to scratch. I don’t care if its Sakho, Subotic, Mexes or Yanbaev, all I care about is that they do a good job for Arsenal.
I don’t really know to much about any of them barring Mexes. I think if he is likely to get a defender then it will be Mexes becuase he could be a free agent by January, but if he was to get any of the others then I’m sure they’ll do a good job for Arsenal.