Jonathan Kaney takes a look at the latest transfer gossip concerning Arsenal, which today features links to two potentially exciting additions.
Arsenal fight European giants for Calhanoglu (TalkSport)
Dubbed ‘the new Mesut Ozil’, the Turkish international has been in superb form this year for club and country and is one of the brightest stars in the Bundesliga. Skilful, a natural goal scorer and particularly outstanding in set pieces, it looks as if he will be the centre of a major transfer battle between Europe’s elite clubs this January.
With Arsene’s reputation for promoting youth and the Turks classy style of play suiting us to the ground, he could well be persuaded to choose the Emirates over other options. He would be expensive, but at just 21 would be a worthwhile signing for the Gunners to provide competition for Ozil and learn for the master himself.
Arsenal eying £22m swoop for Michy Batshuayi (Mercato365)
Reports in France say that Arsene Wenger is preparing a £22m January swoop for Ligue 1 hitman Michy Batshuayi, however will have a battle on their hands with Marseille who are reluctant to sell the exciting Belgian.
According to Mercato 365, the Gunners are prepared to bid £22m for the 22-year-old Belgian in January and will attempt to negotiate terms with Marseille in the coming months.
With Giroud and Walcott opposites in every way, Wenger may be looking at Batshuayi as a player who combines the best traits of both. At 6 foot, he is skilful, fast and has excellent movement like Walcott, but equally is he is strong, powerful and good in the air like Giroud.
His talent is still raw, however with a goal scoring record of 16 goals in 38 games for Marseille and his stock rising with every game. If the Gunners were to sign him I would say he was a more worthwhile investment that the likes of Nolito or Benzema who are entering their late twenties.
At 22 and with Wenger’s ability to turn young players with talent in to superstars, we could have a very exciting player on our hands if we could snap him up in January. Marseille are unlikely to want to part with him easily and other clubs likely to be monitoring him as well, I would think he would cost closer to £30m than the £22m figure that is being quoted.