Mario Yepes – Who Is This Arsenal Target? Is He Good Enough For The Gunners?

Arsenal look settled, this season, with the arrivals of Debuchy, Welbeck, Chambers and Sanchez. However, in acquiring these players, Arsenal have lost a wealth of experience through the departures of Thomas Vermaelen and Bacary Sagna. Arsenal are competing over a wide range of competitions, and most of their competitors have four centre-backs. Arsenal look light in this area of the field, as they have just two top centre-backs and a youngster to back them up. Arsenal are short on a centre-back, and even though Chambers has shown maturity and concentration while playing the role of a centre-back, one cannot expect him to be the first-choice backup to Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny. The transfer window is now shut, which is why Arsenal will have to get an uncontracted, free agent to play that role if required. They are currently linked with the Colombian defender Mario Yepes.

Mario Yepes, ex-Milan and the rock of the Colombian defence at the World Cup, provides seniority and can put in crunching tackles, as has been seen in his earlier performances, over the years. He is 38 and was set to retire after the World Cup, but a short-term offer from Wenger could keep one member of Colombia’s golden generation in the game. He will not demand too much game-time, which would mean that Wenger could keep his first-choice duo of Mertesacker and Koscielny for a majority of the games. Yepes could be an inspiration to the younger players in the Arsenal team, and could have a daunting impact on a young player like Chambers. More importantly, by signing Yepes on a short-term deal, Wenger could purchase the defender of his choice in January, when the transfer values of defenders may not be as inflated as they were during this transfer window. Through this transfer window, Wenger was searching for the correct centre-back, but was unable to close any deal. Players like Luiz, Mangala and Rojo were overpriced, while players like Garay and Agger moved cheap, before Wenger could bat an eyelid. Until the time Arsenal can find the right profile to suit the club, Yepes could be the answer to Wenger’s problem, as he proved that he can play continuously at the top level, captaining Colombia in the recently-concluded World Cup.

Should Arsenal sign Mario Yepes? Yes. The ex-PSG and Milan player moved to Atalanta last season to get more game time before the World Cup, so that he would not lose his place in the Colombian national team. At Atalanta, he played 24 games last season. Obviously, if he can play at that average, in terms of games for Arsenal, it will be an astute move by Wenger to sign him. Yepes has delivered some of his best performances at the European level, and one can expect good performances from him if he moves to Arsenal and plays in the Champions League.