Film Study: Cristhian Mosquera

Is Valencia's young center-back the ideal Arsenal depth?

I really was not expecting a second straight day of watching film on a player I really hadn’t thought about joining Arsenal this summer, but here we are.

David Ornstein and Fabrizio Romano are among the numerous credible sources reporting that Arsenal are attempting to swoop for Cristhian Mosquera, Valencia’s Spanish-born center-back who will turn 21 on the 27th of June (Happy Birthday!)

The concept of adding another center-back, particularly a right-footer, isn’t a new one, but Arsenal to date hadn’t been credibly linked to basically anyone. So what’s the deal with this kid? We’ve got you covered.

Mosquera is a product of the Valencia CF academy, which he joined at age 12. He started the 2021-2022 campaign at Valencia B, but was elevated to the first team later that season, making his first-team debut in a Copa del Rey match at just 17. Mosquera so impressed then-coach José Bordalás that he started Valencia’s La Liga match with Sevilla just three days later, which ended in a draw.

Mosquera started three league matches in all that season, but only started one league match in the 2022-2023 campaign under Gennaro Gattuso. With new manager Rubén Baraja running the show for the 2023-2024 campaign, Cristhian finally broke into a starting role in matchweek five against Atletico Madrid, playing right center back in a 4-4-2, and he never really looked back, starting all but one remaining league game.

Mosquera ended that season third among all outfield players in minutes played, and this season topped that list for Valencia, starting 37 of 38 league matches under both Baraja and Carlos Corberán, who took over as manager around the turn of the year.