Carlos Cuesta and Jhon Lucumi impressed even as Liverpool romped to a 4-1 Champions League win in Belgium – could they improve Unai Emery’s Arsenal?
Martin Keown believes Arsenal should seriously consider signing Carlos Cuesta and Jhon Lucumi after watching the Colombian centre-backs during Genk’s Champions League clash with Liverpool on Wednesday night, speaking to BT Sport (23 October, 8pm).
It is no secret where The Gunners’ Achilles heel lies. Keown, a ferocious centre-back during Arsenal’s heyday in the late 90s and early 2000s, continues to despair as David Luiz and Sokratis Papastathopoulos contrive to form one of the most unreliable defensive partnerships in the Premier League despite their considerable experience at the top level.
And Keown believes that his former club could do a lot worse than to look at two defenders who, at 20 and 21 respectively, stepped up to the plate against Liverpool, even if Jurgen Klopp’s side eventually ran out 4-1 winners in Belgium thanks to a clinical second half display.
“(Cuesta, below) looks some player by the way, both Colombian central defenders look pretty decent,” Keown said of the duo, who could do very little to stop a pair of glorious Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain goals.
“If I was an Arsenal scout – and never have been, never been asked to comment ever as a former player on prospective purchases – these two are not bad, I can tell you.”
Colombia U20 captain Cuesta plays with a maturity well beyond his years with excellent reading of the game and the physical qualities to bully opposition centre-forwards. Lucumi (below), meanwhile, already has two full international caps to his name and helped Genk win the Jupiler League title last season.
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