Arsenal wanted Mathias Olivera over the summer and the left back appears to be impressing over in Italy after signing for Napoli.
The Gunners were clearly in the market for a new left back over the summer.
Nuno Tavares just didn’t impress in his first season at Arsenal and Kieran Tierney’s repeated injury issues are well-documented.
Arsenal did end up signing a left back as Oleksandr Zinchenko arrived from Manchester City, but other options were considered.
Arsenal wanted Mathias Olivera
One of them appeared to be Olivera, who had been shining in Spain with Getafe.
The Uruguayan ace has become a regular for his country in 2022 and now has eight caps to his name with a World Cup spot surely on the horizon.
Olivera found himself in demand over the summer and Tuttomercatoweb reported in May that Arsenal had made a bid for the 24-year-old.
Arsenal didn’t strike a deal with Getafe though as Napoli were able to finally sign Olivera having seen a January move collapse.
We can only imagine that Olivera was a backup target for Arsenal in case Zinchenko wasn’t available, which at that time in the window, he probably wasn’t.
Olivera has only started one Serie A game but was in the team to face Ajax in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Olivera played a key role in Napoli’s incredible 6-1 thrashing of the Dutch giants and he produced one outstanding moment of quality.
With Napoli 1-0 down, Olivera broke down the left flank and rather than rush his pass, he took his time and then picked out an inch-perfect cross for Giacomo Raspadori to score.
Tuttomercatoweb hailed Olivera’s assist as ‘delightful’, rating his all-round performance at 7/10 as Napoli racked up a superb victory.
You can see why Arsenal may have been interested in Olivera but even with that fine assist under his belt, you can’t argue against the deal for Zinchenko or his impact with the Gunners.
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