Arsenal join race for Adil Rami

Arsenal and Manchester City will battle it out for the signature of Valencia centre-back Adil Rami this summer, according to reports in Daily Star.

The French international is currently spending a six-month loan spell with Serie A outfit AC Milan and has impressed scoring three goals in 16 Serie A appearances since arriving in January.

He was understood to be close to joining Milan on a permanent deal before problems arose over the price, opening the door for Arsenal and Manchester City to go head-to-head before the start of the 2014-15 campaign for the highly rated French defender. Valencia are not keen to keep him, particularly after the defender criticised his parent clubs form during his current spell in Italy.

The 28 year old isn’t a world class defender but the simple fact is that when Rami is good, he is very good. He can be good at man marking, tackling, passing and strong in the air. His passing is normally short, quick little taps to team-mates, but he is capable of long passes and also knocking the ball on with his head. He wins on average 90% of his tackles and 70% of his aerial duels and when he takes on a player, he is successful 65% of the time.

But the problem is that when he isn’t focused he is very bad. He complicates things too much, his decision-making is very suspect and at times for both Valencia and France he looks out of place. His commitment at times is very questionable both on and off the pitch while he also has a problem with discipline.

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The Gunners are looking to add depth to their squad and the disastrous second half of the season has reportedly convinced the club’s board to add to the depth of the squad to keep up with clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City. Wenger is known to be a big admirer of the defender after being linked with him on numerous occasions and it seems he is ready to make the move this summer.

It’s not that Arsenal need a world class centre-back at the moment as Mertesacker and Koscielny have forged an excellent partnership at the back and all they need to have is a decent backup who can come in and make an impact – Rami fits the bill pretty well. The player has his flaws but maybe with the right club he may be able to get his head sorted and become a world class centre-back.

Should we sign him? Share your thoughts in the comments below.