{"id":12520,"date":"2017-04-22T16:52:23","date_gmt":"2017-04-22T16:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/2017\/04\/22\/arsenal-join-race-for-coveted-defender-as-wenger-looks-to-build-new-formation-around-50m-rated-star\/"},"modified":"2017-04-22T16:52:23","modified_gmt":"2017-04-22T16:52:23","slug":"arsenal-join-race-for-coveted-defender-as-wenger-looks-to-build-new-formation-around-50m-rated-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/?p=12520","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal Join Race for Coveted Defender as Wenger Looks to Build New Formation Around \u00a350m-Rated Star"},"content":{"rendered":"<div readability=\"68.917888563\">\n<p>?<span style=\"background-color: initial; font-size: 1em;\">Arsenal are the latest Premier League club to be linked with highly sought after Southampton captain Virgil van Dijk and are reportedly keen to beat their many rivals to the \u00a350m-rated Dutchman&#8217;s signature this summer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Chelsea have been favourites in recent weeks, while Everton, Manchester City and Liverpool have all been mentioned in conjunction with possible summer swoops.<\/p>\n<p><i class=\"wrapper\" contenteditable=\"false\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-container imageEmbedded\" contenteditable=\"false\" data-url=\"http:\/\/90min-images-original.s3.amazonaws.com\/production\/58f86576d39b8754f8000001.jpg\" data-large_url=\"https:\/\/media.gettyimages.com\/photos\/virgil-van-dijk-of-southampton-reacts-during-the-emirates-fa-cup-picture-id631140602?b=1&#038;k=6&#038;m=631140602&#038;s=612x612&#038;w=0&#038;h=f-ulcgy2WVG9ZEJN1FGxKHGf7O6wwc6l8mhxUkWeF0k=\" data-title=\"Norwich City v Southampton - The Emirates FA Cup Third Round\" data-description=\"NORWICH, ENGLAND - JANUARY 07:  Virgil van Dijk of Southampton reacts during the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Norwich City and Southampton at Carrow Road on January 7, 2017 in Norwich, England.  (Photo by Stephen Pond\/Getty Images)\" data-credit=\"Stephen Pond\/GettyImages\" data-date=\"2017-01-07\" data-ratio=\"16\/9\" data-crop=\"\"x\":0,\"y\":0.06571428571428571,\"w\":1,\"h\":0.9011780104712042\" data-getty_image=\"true\" data-afp_image=\"false\" data-licensor=\"GettyImages\" data-is-animated=\"false\" data-width=\"undefined\" data-height=\"undefined\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/media.minutemediacdn.com\/process?url=http%3A%2F%2F90min-images-original.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fproduction%2F58f86576d39b8754f8000001.jpg&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bw%5D=1.0&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bh%5D=0.9011780104712042&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bo_x%5D=0.0&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bo_y%5D=0.06571428571428571&#038;filters%5Bquality%5D%5Btarget%5D=80&#038;type=.jpg&#038;filters%5Bresize%5D%5Bw%5D=578&#038;filters%5Bresize%5D%5Bh%5D=325\" alt=\"Norwich City v Southampton - The Emirates FA Cup Third Round\" title=\"Stephen Pond\/GettyImages\" data-licensor=\"GettyImages\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-label=\"Drop here...\">But, according to the Daily Mirror, the Gunners are now in the hunt as well. It is said that the club have already made enquiries to Southampton as Arsene Wenger looks to kick off a period of major squad rebuilding after what has overall been a disappointing campaign.<\/p>\n<p>The point is made by the Mirror&#8217;s report that Arsenal were looking at Van Dijk prior to his \u00a313m move to Southampton from Celtic in 2015 and that failing to land him then is now considered to be a &#8216;source of regret&#8217; at the Emirates Stadium.<\/p>\n<p><i class=\"wrapper\" contenteditable=\"false\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-container imageEmbedded\" contenteditable=\"false\" data-url=\"http:\/\/90min-images-original.s3.amazonaws.com\/production\/58f865ef4e63ee6cc7000001.jpg\" data-large_url=\"https:\/\/media.gettyimages.com\/photos\/virgil-van-dijk-of-celtic-in-action-during-the-uefa-europa-league-of-picture-id463960580?b=1&#038;k=6&#038;m=463960580&#038;s=612x612&#038;w=0&#038;h=6iSN8tECxokvaCe4cNG6yvwM5WkCv2SVPRtRPEnUQW4=\" data-title=\"Celtic FC v FC Internazionale Milano - UEFA Europa League Round of 32\" data-description=\"GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 19: Virgil van Dijk of Celtic in action during the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 match between Celtic and FC Internazionale Milano on February 19, 2015 in Glasgow, United Kingdom.  (Photo by Laurence Griffiths\/Getty Images)\" data-credit=\"Laurence Griffiths\/GettyImages\" data-date=\"2015-02-19\" data-ratio=\"16\/9\" data-crop=\"\"x\":0,\"y\":0.07714285714285714,\"w\":0.9975490196078431,\"h\":0.84375\" data-getty_image=\"true\" data-afp_image=\"false\" data-licensor=\"GettyImages\" data-is-animated=\"false\" data-width=\"undefined\" data-height=\"undefined\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/media.minutemediacdn.com\/process?url=http%3A%2F%2F90min-images-original.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fproduction%2F58f865ef4e63ee6cc7000001.jpg&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bw%5D=0.9975490196078431&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bh%5D=0.84375&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bo_x%5D=0.0&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bo_y%5D=0.07714285714285714&#038;filters%5Bquality%5D%5Btarget%5D=80&#038;type=.jpg&#038;filters%5Bresize%5D%5Bw%5D=578&#038;filters%5Bresize%5D%5Bh%5D=325\" alt=\"Celtic FC v FC Internazionale Milano - UEFA Europa League Round of 32\" title=\"Laurence Griffiths\/GettyImages\" data-licensor=\"GettyImages\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-label=\"Drop here...\">Wenger opted for a back three (Gabriel Paulista, Laurent Koscielny, Rob Holding) when Arsenal beat Middlesbrough on Monday night and is said to be keen on adopting it more permanently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-label=\"Drop here...\">Increasingly popular with clubs up and down the country, it is a system that Van Dijk is already well suited to and would certainly give Arsenal far greater defensive strength and solidity than they have experienced in recent months.<\/p>\n<p><i class=\"wrapper\" contenteditable=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9MOkYpR4wIY\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"Youtube embed--Youtube embed--generic-iframe embeded-video-player\"\/><\/p>\n<p><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Another rumoured target who certainly fits with that is Sead Kolasinac.<\/p>\n<p>Stories of an agreement with Arsenal ahead of leaving Schalke as a free agent this summer proved to be premature after the player&#8217;s father claimed a decision is yet to be made, but the Bosnian international has spent much of this season operating as a left wing-back and offers what the much older\u00a0Nacho Monreal cannot in that respect.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>To continue the discussion on Twitter follow<\/em> <strong>@jamiespencer155<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" class=\"\" data-label=\"Drop here...\"><em>Visit<\/em> <strong>www.facebook.com\/jamiespencer155<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i class=\"wrapper\" contenteditable=\"false\" readability=\"2\"\/><\/p>\n<p>??<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>?Arsenal are the latest Premier League club to be linked with highly sought after Southampton captain Virgil van Dijk and are reportedly keen to beat their many rivals to the \u00a350m-rated Dutchman&#8217;s signature this summer. Chelsea have been favourites in recent weeks, while Everton, Manchester City and Liverpool have all been mentioned in conjunction with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-southampton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}