Premier League clubs Arsenal and Liverpool have shown an interest in signing Eintracht Frankfurt centre-back Willian Pacho, as per journalist Florian Plettenberg (h/t Sports Mole).
Arsenal have a steady centre-back pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel but Mikel Arteta is planning to add some competition to his back line which is why the Gunners will try and bring in a new central defender in the summer. Liverpool will also look to sign a new centre-back as well because experienced defender Joel Matip is going to leave the club at the end of this season.
No matter who wins the EPL, both these clubs will go out and spend money in the market and Willian Pacho could be one of the top targets because Eintracht Frankfurt are valuing him at just £51 million which is penny change for Liverpool and also Arsenal.
The 22-year-old’s current market value is only £20.5 million but because his contract runs until the summer of 2028, £51 million seems a very reasonable demand from the Bundesliga side.
Willian Pacho is another jewel of the Independiente del Valle academy. The present and future of Ecuadorian football. Not surprised Arsenal are paying attention.
Willian Pacho had a wonderful 2022/23 season with Antwerp following which Eintracht Frankfurt signed him for a fee of around £7.68 million over a five-year deal.
This season, the centre-back has featured in every Bundesliga game for the German side and his defensive contributions have been noteworthy.
He’s made 32 interceptions alongside 173 recoveries and has also won 60% of his tackles. In 2160 minutes of league football, Pacho has been dribbled past just 12 times but his one big flaw is that he is not great at winning aerial duels.
Arsenal will get Jurrien Timber back from his long injury layoff so Mikel Arteta might look to wait before going all out to sign Willian Pacho but for Liverpool, the youngster can turn out to be a great signing.
Once Klopp leaves, the new manager will have to be backed with proper reinforcements and we doubt if the new boss will be too eager to rely on talents like Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah.
Both Liverpool and Arsenal will want to bring down Pacho’s asking price over several rounds of negotiations but even if they have to end up paying around £50 million, it will be deemed as a sensible transfer in regards to the current market scenario.
