Arsenal have signed former Juventus defender Stephan Lichtsteiner on a free transfer from the Italian giants. The 34 year old started out as a winger but as he has got older he has found himself in the back line of defence.
The Swiss international has over a century of caps for his country and played also a part in their round of 16 finish at the World Cup where they lost to Sweden. But despite his age he is still in good shape and will bring experience to Arsenal’s defence.
Lichtsteiner said:
“I hope I can bring a lot of experience, a lot of mentality and, together with my team, come back to the highest level of the Champions League.” He also said moving to Arsenal represented a “challenge” and that he was “really positive” the club would “do great things” under Spaniard Unai Emery.
Fantasy Premier League Potential (5.0m)
He will seemingly be in direct competition with Spanish right back Hector Bellerin, meaning he may not get a vast amount of game time. Bellerin has nailed down the right back/wing back position for a few years now and it’s likely that this will continue this season.
Lichtsteiner may just be at Arsenal as back up for Bellerin and help provide experience, giving Bellerin the potential to become a better defender. His £5.0m price tag would be great if he could get a run of games due to an injury, but without this its’ hard to see him being a large part of Emery’s team.
Arsenal’s first five fixtures are as follows; Manchester City (H), Chelsea (A), West Ham (H), Cardiff (A) and Newcastle (A). It is a very tough beginning with two games against fellow top 6 teams, but it does get easier as they don’t play a top six side until gameweek 11 where they face Liverpool.
Written by Harry Clark (@HarryClark67)
