Arsenal headed into the final few weeks of the transfer window needing a new right-back, and they ended up with one on deadline day in the shape of Takehiro Tomiyasu.
However, things could have all been so different, the Gunners were linked with two very talented English youngsters in the shape of Tariq Lamptey and Max Aarons, but those moves never came to fruition.
We now know why Arsenal didn’t want to sign Lamptey or Aarons, and to be honest, the reasoning is a little bit ridiculous.
Indeed, according to The Athletic, Arsenal had concerns over the height and aerial ability of the two right-backs, and we can’t quite get our heads around that.
As a full-back, height isn’t the most important attribute, after all, defending crosses is usually a job for a centre-half, and while certain managers may want a more physical presence from their back four, Mikel Arteta’s side doesn’t really place much importance on that.
Think about it, Arsenal have just spent £50m on Ben White, who stands at just 6ft and isn’t very physically imposing, but for some reason, they had reservations about Lamptey and Aarons because of their statures.
To be fair, we can justify that concern with Lamptey, he stands at just 5 ft 4, which, with all due respect, is remarkably small for any footballer. However, with Aarons standing at 5 ft 10, it’s hard to understand the logic there – after all, the average height of a professional footballer is around that mark.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time someone has opted against signing Aarons due to his height. Jose Mourinho reportedly decided against bringing him to Spurs for the same reason, and he was plagued with problems at right-back throughout his entire tenure.
In modern football, under a manager who plays in such a progressive way, height and aerial ability shouldn’t be high on the list of things that are important for Edu, especially at full-back, but despite Aarons’ clear talent, he’s decided against signing the Norwich ace for these reasons.
It’s a move straight out of Jose Mourinho’s playbook, and it’s not a good one
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