Nathaniel Brown is in the frame for a transfer to Arsenal this summer but the left-back’s position has raised questions but digging deeper reveals the plan
Nathaniel Brown has been linked with a summer transfer to Arsenal(Image: Gabor Baumgarten/Sports Press Photo/Getty Images)
Arsenal are interested in Frankfurt’s Nathaniel Brown, football.london understands. The German international full-back has been excellent for the Bundesliga side, but there is a belief that a summer move to a bigger club is inevitable, and the Gunners are keeping close tabs on the situation.
That being said, at a glance, the link appears somewhat odd. Yes, Brown has played as a right-back, a position understood to be of interest to Arsenal, with both Jurrien Timber and Ben White suffering significant and persistent injury issues; however, the left-footed Brown has featured there just twice.
Arteta typically does not like natural left-footers or right-footers to play in the opposite full-back role, and instead operates on a needs must basis when he decides to. With Riccardo Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly, plus the permanent arrival of Piero Hincapie this summer, the Gunners are well-stocked in the position.
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So why then the interest in a left back, beyond simply leaning into the online memes of Arteta’s obsession with signing them? Dig a little deeper, and it becomes a bit clearer.
Lewis-Skelly looks set for a future in midfield after his excellent end to the campaign in the position. Both Calafiori and Hincapie also share several things in common relevant to this discussion.
Yes, both have suffered with injury issues too, meaning that having extra depth won’t hurt, but spending the required fee on a player like Brown, who has ambitions of regular starts for a third option, is not necessarily the smart play.
The key here is that the common relation between Calafiori and Hincapie is that they can both play left-sided centre-half. A much less physically demanding role and one where Arsenal do not have a clear candidate to replace Gabriel Magalhaes when not fit.
Unlike William Saliba, who has Cristhian Mosquera for company, Gabriel has no obvious back-up who isn’t attached to an already-established role. Arteta has moved Saliba to the left and partnered him with Mosquera in the absence of the Brazilian. Signing Brown would allow Gabriel more rest and bring one of Hincapie or Calafiori into the middle.
Furthermore, with interest in replacing Gabriel Martinelli with Morgan Rogers, a player who could operate from the left but more internally than in a winger capacity, Brown’s style as a full-back would marry much better with a profile like Rogers or Leandro Trossard.
Arsenal’s back four of Timber, Saliba and Gabriel would effectively become a back three with Brown joining the attack down the left, where he got three goals and three assists in his 20 appearances at left-back this season.
For comparison, in 77 combined games, Calafiori and Hincapie got two goals between them, and five assists. When you look at the bigger picture, therefore, it starts to make a lot of sense.
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