Yer da would have made Arsenal\u2019s three biggest summer signings if he was made sporting director over Andrea Berta.<\/p>\n
Viktor Gyokeres was the obvious striker choice. Martin Zubimendi was the best available No.6. Eberechi Eze is an Arsenal boy. The only plaudits Berta is possibly due in those transfers is for negotiating skills we aren\u2019t privy to.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s current kudos over his and Mikel Arteta\u2019s push for Noni Madueke, but we\u2019re really bringing out the flowers for his \u00a313m(?!) capture of\u00a0Cristhian Mosquera, who is currently solving a problem for Arsenal and may yet create a big one for Mikel Arteta.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Premier League winners and losers: Amorim sack; Emery, Maresca struggle; Arsenal, Woltemade shine<\/a><\/p>\n He was unfazed after coming off the bench to play near enough the whole game against the Premier League champions at Anfield and followed that up with a display of such confidence against Nottingham Forest that rather than hanging on Mikel Arteta\u2019s press conference injury updates for hints as to when William Saliba may return, as has been the case whenever one of the two Gunners centre-back stalwarts has missed a game or two in the last three seasons, we\u2019re now wondering whether there may soon be a new-look pairing.<\/p>\n When asked after the 3-0 victory over Forest whether Mosquera will be pushing Gabriel and Saliba for a starting spot, Arteta confirmed: \u201cYou\u2019ve just seen today and what he did at Anfield \u2014 he\u2019s going to push them very, very hard. This kid wants it a lot, and he\u2019s so willing to learn.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got already some great qualities that fit very well in any position that we want to use him in, in relation to the connections and the qualities of the other defenders.\u201d<\/p>\n Mosquera has so far made more tackles (3.6) and ball recoveries (4) per game than both Saliba and Gabriel, and has had a greater duel success rate (81.8 per cent).<\/p>\n MORE ARSENAL COVERAGE ON F365 Any centre-back breaking up the formidable pairing would have been unthinkable before the season started, let alone someone they signed for roughly half what they sold Eddie Nketiah to Crystal Palace for the year before. If this is how good a \u00a313m centre-back is, \u00a345m Piero Hincapie must be the greatest defender of all time.<\/p>\n Valencia made the error of allowing Mosquera to enter the final year of his contract, or they failed to get him to agree to a new deal, but far more baffling given what we\u2019ve seen from the 21-year-old (oh yeah, he\u2019s only 21) is the seeming lack of interest from other Premier League giants to secure his signing.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udc49 Arteta \u2018disrespect\u2019 won\u2019t \u2018cost Arsenal the title\u2019, it\u2019s why they might actually win it<\/a>
\ud83d\udc49 Alan Shearer tells Arsenal how to get a \u2018shed load\u2019 of goals out of Viktor Gyokeres<\/a>
\ud83d\udc49 Crouch singles out \u2018unplayable\u2019 Arsenal star for praise as Arteta\u2019s side thrash Nottm Forest<\/a><\/p>\n