Wenger eyeing up French defender

ARSENE WENGER is monitoring the progress of Paris Saint-Germain’s Mamadou Sakho as he looks for a solution to Arsenal’s defensive problems.

Renowned for his pace, aerial ability and leadership, Sakho has been capped for France at a variety of age group levels and new Les Bleus boss Laurent Blanc called him into the senior squad earlier in the season.

Paris Saint-Germain are keen to tie the young centre-back to a new contract but, according to Le Parisien, they face a battle to retain his services following interest from Arsenal and AC Milan.

Wenger had hoped he had solved his defensive problems by signing Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci in the summer.

However, Koscielny has struggled to adapt to English football and has already picked up two red cards.

Squillaci has performed well, but at 30 the former Sevilla star is not regarded as a long-term solution.

While Wenger is unlikely to lose faith with Koscielny until he has given him a fair chance to prove he can cope with Premier League strikers, the long-serving manager knows he needs another defensive option and a promising young player like Sakho could fit the bill.

Wenger, meanwhile, has congratulated Jay Bothroyd on his England call-up and admitted he regrets losing the striker.

The Cardiff forward has been included in Fabio Capello’s squad for Wednesday’s friendly against France, 10 years after he was sold by Arsenal for disciplinary reasons.

The 28-year-old threw a shirt at coach Don Howe after being substituted in an U19 match and was told by head of youth development Liam Brady he was no longer wanted at the club.

He moved on to Coventry and has since had spells at Perugia, Blackburn, Wolves, Charlton and Stoke.

He now seems to be thriving at Cardiff and has scored 15 goals this season to help the Bluebirds to the top of the npower Championship.

Wenger said: “He is one of my regrets, he left very early. But I have said many times it is important a guy has a good career, even if he goes somewhere else.

“It is better than to play in the reserves.

“He went down but has come back up again and we are all very proud of him at Arsenal.”

Wenger believes he has matured into a fine player. “Sometimes it is only later they realise they not only have to have talent, but need to work as well.

“Sometimes to go down to the Championship, there is no better education.

“It is true, he had a little outcome that you can have when you are 16 or 17 but he is a good guy, and he is classy; left-footed, strong body, fantastic technique.

“The incident didn’t happen in the first-team group, it happened in the youth team.

“Liam Brady is responsible for that. They made the decision and I didn’t stand in the way because it was a disciplinary matter.”