Per Mertesacker’s absence in the Gunners’ game against Manchester United yesterday after caused panic amongst me and my Arsenal supporting friends. The importance of the Germany international is sensational, and I feel as though we missed that as we fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford. That’s not to say Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen didn’t do a good job – they did – but there is no comparing either of them to Mertesacker, for me.
Now with the Mirror reporting that we are targeting young central defender Fabian Schar, I thought I would take a look for my fellow Gooners and see what he’s all about.
The 21-year-old isn’t the tallest of players, in fact he’d probably look like a child stood next to Mertesacker, but he has got a bit of bite about him. He is a player who enjoys getting in the faces of opponents and throwing himself into challenges, and he also knows where the goal is. The Switzerland international has scored six times in his 28 league games for FC Basel, and also thrice in three appearances for his country.
I haven’t seen a huge deal of the centre-half, but going by videos and statistics I would say he seems mightily impressive, and if there was any chance of getting him on board then I say go for it.