Arsene Wenger has does some good business so far in this summer's transfer window, but could he be looking to bolster his defense by raiding one of his league rivals? According to the Mirror, Arsenal are preparing to make a sizable bid for Liverpool defender Daniel Agger in an attempt to bring him to the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal, Barcelona both after Liverpool defender
Reports have both the Gunners and Blaugrana chasing Daniel Agger.
Julian Finney
Why this makes sense
Brendan Rodgers spent £20 million this summer bringing centre back Dejan Lovren to Anfield from Southampton. The Reds defense was leaky throughout last season, and Lovren is likely seen as an upgrade. So with one starting place left, there's big time competition between Agger, Martin Skrtel, and Mamadou Sakho. Agger had injury problems as well last season, making him the most likely candidate to be expendable.
When Agger did play last season, his form wasn’t the best, so it wouldn’t be far fetched for him to be looking for a change of scenery and a change to start fresh with a new team.
There are also rumors that Barcelona are chasing Gunners defender Thomas Vermaelen, which would mean that Wenger could be looking for an experienced option to replace the Belgium should be make the switch.
Why this doesn’t make sense
Aresnal and Liverpool are likely to be competing for a top four spot in the EPL this season, and there’s a good chance it could be over third place and the last automatic Champions League spot. Would Rodgers really want to sell a solid Premier League defender to one of his rivals, potentially giving them a boost? If Liverpool would be willing to sell to the Gunners, they’ll likely boost the price higher than normal as well.
With both Barcelona and Brondby having been linked Agger, it would make much more sense for Liverpool to move Agger out of the EPL, rather than letting him go to a team that could end up forcing them into UCL qualification or the Europa League.
Likelihood it happens
It’s hard to see Liverpool willingly selling a 29-year-old experienced central defender to one of their top in-leauge rivals. With other teams reportedly interested in Agger, it just make more sense that the Reds would prefer to sell in him out of league. With that in mind, we’ll give this move a 3 out of 10 chance of happening.
As for Agger going to Barcelona, the signing of Jeremy Mathieu gives Barca four options in the middle of the defense at the moment. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be interested in adding more, but you’d have to think they would want a bigger catch than Agger if they’re going to spend the money. Let’s go with a 2 out of 10 chance of this move being made.
