Arsenal to rival Barcelona and Spurs for Premier League defender

Arsenal look set to take-on their North London rivals to secure the signature of a top Premier League defender.

According to CaughtOffside, Arsenal are considering a move for Tyrick Mitchell, whose contract with Crystal Palace expires in June 2025, to add depth to their defensive ranks.

Riccardo Calafiori was signed in the summer and is, when fit, the starter at left-back but injury issues have meant that Arsenal have had to find alternative solutions at left-back.

The most common of these are either the defensively weak Oleksandr Zinchenko or moving Jurrien Timber from his better position on the right.

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Neither is ideal, so picking up Mitchell would be a huge improvement to the quality of their squad and allow then to retain defensive prowess even if Calafiori is out for any period of time.

Of course, the report says that Tottenham are also considering a move for the full-back so Arsenal would have to out-bid their great rivals.

That wouldn't be too difficult given the stature of both clubs and the fact that neither would be offering Mitchell a spot in the starting XI (given that Spurs have Destiny Udogie in that berth).

More of an issue for the Gunners is the interest of European heavyweights Barcelona, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid.

London, Barcelona, Milan or Madrid?

These are clubs of equal or, in Barcelona and Milan's case, much greater stature than Arsenal. And in terms of Milan the starting left-back role would even be up for grabs given the likely departure of Theo Hernandez.

Further, there is already a contingent of English players at San Siro, with Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek established players for the Rossoneri. This would greatly aid in Mitchell's adaptation.

In terms of Barcelona it may not be the starting role, given Alejandro Balde, but given Mitchell has a similar defence-first profile it's clear where he fits into the team and the chance to play alongside generational phenoms like Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi may be too much to pass up.

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Atletico Madrid make the most sense, of course. Diego Simeone is a defensive genius whose system would build-up the best attributes of Mitchell's game and hide his flaws.

Whether playing left-back, left centre-back or even left wing-back, there is little doubt that a defender like Mitchell would thrive under Simeone, especially as Englishman Conor Gallagher is already at the club to help with adaptation.