Arsenal’s love of summer defenders increases chance of Williams move

Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins may have stated that no bids have so far been forthcoming for either Ashley Williams or Michu, but it would be no surprise if Arsenal left it late to make an offer for the Welsh skipper.

Williams has been odds-on to join the Gunners in this transfer window for much of the summer and given their current defensive headache which has already resulted in Bacary Sagna being shuffled across as an emergency centre-half, a new recruit or two would not go amiss.

However, the current price for Williams joining Arsenal is 3/1 and customers can open a new account with Ladbrokes to profit from these odds here.

Arsene Wenger has been widely criticised for leaving his transfer dealings to the final week of the window, but there are sure to be a handful of new faces that arrive before it shuts.

Given that at least one first-team central defender has been signed in four of the last five transfer windows by Arsenal, it would be no surprise if this run was extended.

Williams would look a decent fit for Arsenal given that he has become accustomed to possession-based football at Swansea, while his ability to block shots and intercept passes is higher than any of Wenger’s current defensive options.

This would be valuable if the decision was made for Arsenal to play with a higher defensive line, although given Per Mertesacker’s extreme lack of pace, this may be unlikely in the short term.

The signing of Michu would not seem so necessary as Arsenal do not appear to struggle too much when it comes to goal input from midfield.

Both Santi Cazorla and Theo Walcott reached double figures last season, while Aaron Ramsey has three goals to his name already in the current campaign.

It is 5/1 that Michu joins Arsenal in the summer transfer window.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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