Speaking on The Transfer Window Podcast, Duncan Castles has claimed that Arsenal have an interest in Brighton full-back Tariq Lamptey.
Lamptey is a fantastic footballer, but, as we all know, he’s not perfect.
Indeed, he was apparently turned down by Arsenal in the summer due to his height – or lack thereof, and, to be honest, we can understand why.
Lamptey, with all due respect, is remarkably short for a professional footballer. He stands at just 5 ft 5, and if he’s forced to defend crosses at the back-post, he could be in trouble.
However, Castles is led to believe that the Gunners are keen on him, despite his height.
“What you have here is Arsenal, who had an interest in Lamptey when he burst onto the scene before that difficult injury that you referred to. They are looking again to sign him and exploring the parameters of the deal. I think Lamptey is an exceptionally attacking full-back. The limitation on him is his height and I think, therefore, he needs to play in a defence that either uses wing-backs or uses the full-backs progressively,” Castles said.
As Castles says, Lamptey works better as a wing-back, so could we see Mikel Arteta shift to a back three if this signing is made?
If Edu brings Lamptey to the club, Arteta could be forced to rethink his system to incorporate wing-backs.
It would make a lot of sense. After all Takehiro Tomiyasu is more than capable of playing as a right-sided centre-half, while Kieran Tierney and Nuno Tavares are two ready-made exciting attacking options down the left.
Playing Lamptey in a more advanced role would also negate some of the detrimental factors brought about by his stature.
Think about it, those back-post crosses we touched on earlier could easily be defended by Tomiyasu if he’s played as a right-centre-back, while Lamptey could solely focus on one-on-one defending and launching counter-attacks with his blistering pace.
Arteta has experimented with a back three in the past, and perhaps we could see that system return if Lamptey is brought in.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
