Former Arsenal star Paul Mariner has named the rather ambitious signing of Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt as his dream transfer for his old club.
The Netherlands international is one of the most exciting young players on the planet at the moment and could also undoubtedly improve this Gunners defence in a big way.
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De Ligt has been linked by Sky Sports with the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona, while Dutch source De Telegraaf has reported on a proposed move to Juventus seeming to stall.
Either way, the 19-year-old is surely going to end up at an elite super club before too long, and that means his chances of ever being an Arsenal player are surely extremely slim.
Mariner concedes his dream ‘statement signing’ for the north Londoners is never going to happen, but he explained why he’d love to see it and did note that De Ligt’s future does remain up in the air to some extent as this summer’s transfer saga drags on.
“The one thing that they need is a central defender,” Mariner told ESPN, as quoted by the Express.
“There’s a guy floating around, he’s not quite signed for Juve, he’s not quite signed for Barca, whoever you want to talk to.
“The young Ajax player, he’s terrific. That’s exactly what you want.
“He’s a young kid, you can build a side around him. Ten years you’d get out of him, he’s a fantastic footballer.
“Go and start from those areas because in most Arsenal fans’ opinion, at the back is where they need to build.
“[Laurent] Koscielny is just going over the hill now.
“Signing somebody like that is a statement signing. But it’s never going to happen, I wish it would.”