Real Madrid midfielder and long-term Arsenal target Sami Khedira has essentially confirmed that he will be leaving the Santiago Bernabeu this summer, reoprts the Metro.
But even if he is available for free in a few months time, do we really need him?
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He has been tipped to make a return to Germany come the end of the season, with the Metro confirming Schalke 04 have already started talks. If paper talk is to be believed, we are certainly in the running for him however, and his future still looks undecided.
The 27-year-old hasn’t dropped any hints about a move, but his latest comments all but confirm his imminent exit.
“I love Real Madrid, it will be hard to leave this club,” Khedira is quoted as saying by the Metro.
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“I will give everything for this shirt until the last day of my contract, there should be no doubt about that.”
We have been searching for a dominant defensive midfielder for years now, and despite the emergence of Francis Coquelin we are still desperately in need of reinforcements.
Khedira is unquestionably a top class player, and the opportunity to reunite him with international and former club teammate Mesut Özil is an enticing one, but he doesn’t really fit our needs at the moment. The World Cup winner is more of a box-to-box man than an out-and-out defensive midfielder, and we have those in abundance.
Arsene Wenger is already struggling to fit Özil, Santi Cazorla, and Aaron Ramsey into the same side, and things will only get worse once Jack Wilshere makes his full return from injury.
Khedira is not the man to replace (or even play back up to) Coquelin, so he really doesn’t fit into the current Arsenal side.
With his current contract coming to an end, he wouldn’t cost us a penny in transfer fees. His wages would no doubt be monstrous however, and he would no doubt impact our ability to sign other players this summer.
He is not, and should not be, a priority for us, and we need to be focusing on bringing in a dedicated defensive midfielder before we look at the likes of Khedira.
The final nail in the coffin is his recent injury record, which is almost as bad as Abou Diaby’s. We need more resilient midfielders who are going to be ever present in the side, not players who can shine during the odd game before spending the rest of the season watching from the sidelines.
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