Arsenal plotting surprise move for Barcelona's Mascherano

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Javier Mascherano is being linked with a rather surprising exit from Barcelona this summer, and Arsenal are among the teams chasing his signature, according to Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo.

The Argentine has been fantastic for Barca since making the move from Liverpool back in 2010, but he’s getting on in years and could be looking for one final move before he retires.

The 31-year-old’s situation is apparently being monitored by Manchester United, Man City, Juventus, and Inter Milan, so we’re definitely facing some real competition if we actually are looking to sign him. Juve are apparently leading the race for his signature, but no deal has been done as of yet.

While it’s certainly possible that Mascherano could be on the move this summer, it would seem a very strange signing on our part. His age means he doesn’t have long left at the top, and – assuming we’re signing him to play as a centre-back – we already have several players around the same age.

With two years remaining on his current contract (via Mundo Deportivo) he probably wouldn’t be all that cheap either, and even if he does improve our starting XI, it would be a very temporary fix.

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While a top quality centre-back is definitely on our transfer list this summer, Mascherano really doesn’t seem like the right fit. There are plenty of better options out there, and if we are on the look out for a centre-back this summer then we should really be looking elsewhere.