Why Sevilla's physical beast Grzegorz Krychowiak would improve Arsenal's defence

According to The Guardian, Arsenal are considering a £22m bid for Sevilla midfielder, Grzegorz Krychowiak. The Polish international, who has been scouted during recent months by clubs such as Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City, arrived last summer at Sevilla after Ivan Rakitic signed for Barcelona. His season was outstanding, not only he was able to make an impact on his club from the first fixture, but also he managed to lead "Los Hispalenses" to a second Europa League in a row. However, it is not clear that he will keep on playing at the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. He has previously been quoted as saying that he would not be able to turn down some of the biggest clubs in Europe, so Sevilla's fans are naturally concerned given his influence.

When it comes to the team managed by Unai Emery, all European clubs know their approach. They are always open to selling players, as they have the ability to buy bargains at a low price while they sell players at their highest price, season in, season out.

However, it is important to underline that they are a tough side to negotiate with. So, if Arsenal put money on the table, an hypothetical departure would not be a surprise in a club which has lost Carlos Bacca, Aleix Vidal, Iván Rakitic, Jesús Navas, Álvaro Negredo and Stephane Mbia in the last two and a half years.

Ramón Rodríguez Monchi, Sevilla's director, spoke proudly to IBTimes UK about Krychowiak. He explained last April why he signed the player and delivered an insight into the role Krychowiak would have in midfield. "I know what are my duties as a sporting director. And Unai Emery knows his functions as well. I don't have anything to do with tactics, lineups or physical condition. When season reaches to an end, Emery talks to me about player profiles.

Before we signed the Polish, Emery told me: 'We are going to lose Rakitic, so I need a centre half, a beast, a physical prodigy, but I want him to have a decent passing accuracy. If he is just impressive from a physical point of view but he lacks technique, rule the player out'. Then, it is my department's responsibility to pick the right player.

"When we analyzed Krychowiak's skills, we were sure that he matched exactly Unai Emery's description". Time proved him right. The solution to their problem played for Stade Reims. "We went to french football to find this kind of midfielder. League 1, the same as Belgian League, allows you to find these kind of bargains if you follow these tournaments every week".

Sevilla paid €4m to Stade Reims and the 25-year-old midfielder managed to play 29 games for "Hispalenses". He scored four goals and he was pointed out as one of the best players in the Europa League's final against Dnipro. Furthermore, he was named in the La Liga team of the year, with the most amount of tackles and interceptions above the likes of Sergio Busquets, Tony Kroos or Koke. In the Premier League, Nemanja Matic is his equal, not only because of his height (the Polish is 6ft 1in), but also because of his powers of recovery, his passing accuracy (80.1%) and his ability to score goals from long range.

With Mikel Arteta facing his last season at Emirates Stadium, and Francis Coquelin still seen as a lightweight option in midfield, Krychowiak would add strength and increase the Gunners' ball possession statistics. In addition as he was one of the most efficient players in La Liga in aerial duels - with a 73% success rate at Sevilla-.

One thing that Arsenal supporters must know is that Sevilla does not negotiate when a rival targets one of their key players. The Polish's release clause is £22m and that is exactly the expenditure needed to bring him to Emirates Stadium. The Spanish club's financial situation is decent having secure qualification for the Champions League after successive Europa League wins, meaning they are under no pressure to sell.

However, if Arsenal activate his release clause, Sevilla will have no choice but to sell. Now, it is Arsene Wenger's decision whether the Polish player is worth that expenditure. The French boss said last week that they are not interested in Sevilla's midfielder, but that is a classic strategy to avoid having to pay the release clause. We will see how the story ends in two weeks time.