Havard Nordtveit - can he fix Arsenal’s defence?

Pre-season talk at Arsenal has, for the past few seasons at least, been devoted to the Gunners' lack of centre-backs. Last season Thomas Vermaelen stepped into the void left by Kolo Toure, but this summer a veritable chasm has opened in the Gunners' back-line as Sol Campbell, William Gallas, Mikael Silvestre and Philippe Senderos have all jumped ship. Yes, £8.5 million Laurent Koscielny has stepped in, but that still leaves Arsenal with only three recognised centre-backs.

Meanwhile Arsene Wenger is said to be tracking almost every defender in Europe – from Per Mertesacker to Phil Jagielka – but could the answer to his problems lie closer to home?

Arsenal have played three pre-season fixtures so far, scored 11 goals and – crucially – conceded none. And one young player has featured at the back in all of these games and has contributed admirably to the Gunners' success – 20 year old Havard Nordtveit of Norway.

The youngster joined Arsenal at the age of 16 from Norwegian club Haugesund and the move raised plenty of eyebrows among Arsenal fans, mainly for the amount of money Wenger was prepared to spend. The Arsenal manager had seen expensive teenage signings backfire in the past, Jermaine Pennant for example, yet he still had enough faith in Nordtveit to splash out £1.5 million on him, a fee that could jump to £2.5 million should he make enough appearances for the first team.

Tall, quick and said to possess an innate ability to read the play, Nordtveit is just the kind of player who could help solve Arsenal's defensive crisis. And, like many other players signed by Arsene Wenger, he is extremely versatile and can play across the back four as well as in the defensive midfield position.

He has spent the last two seasons out on loan. A fruitless spell at Salamanca in 2008 led Arsenal to recall him so he could practise with their reserves. In 2009 however, a summer loan spell with Lillestrom attracted the advances of Bundesliga outfit Nurnberg and they signed him for the season. This turned out to be a canny move, the popular opinion was that he was one of their best players during the campaign – even though he was frequently played in the less familiar defensive midfield position as well as at centre back.

The consistently high performances shown in his loan spell were not ignored by Arsene Wenger, and he is likely to earn a place in the first team squad this season. The Arsenal hierarchy also think he has what it takes as negotiations have just begun with his agent to prolong his contract before it runs out in 12 months time.

Havard Nordtveit's billing has always been big but now could be the time he lives up to it. Could this be the season that the player ex-Norway coach Haugesund Avis regards as "the brightest defensive talent in Europe" comes through the ranks and allows Wenger the chance to watch yet another of his young guns start firing? ·