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Renowned transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano says Arsenal have now spoke about signing an £80 million star called “similar” to Douglas Luiz.
Arsenal’s reported top January targets
Widespread media claims have shared that manager Mikel Arteta and sporting director Edu have well and truly got to work on identifying transfer targets for the winter window. Thomas Partey’s injury woes and rumours that the midfielder could even depart mid-season are leading to other reports that a new midfielder is top of the Arsenal agenda next month.
An important target for the north Londoners, as stated previously, is Villa star Luiz. The Brazilian has starred under Unai Emery so far, playing all 15 of their opening Premier League games while pitching in with five goals.
Arsenal could make a bid for Luiz in January, despite Emery wanting him to stay, but Villa look set to make life difficult for Edu in his pursuit of the player (Fabrizio Romano). The Midlands side are performing exceptionally this season and are on an upward trajectory of their own, making a deal all the more difficult to do.
Meanwhile, it’s also been reported that Arsenal have their eye on a new striker and could well attempt to steal away Brentford star Ivan Toney. In a boost for Arteta and co, Toney is apparently ready to leave Brentford next year after Arsenal’s talks with his representatives.
Arsenal hold internal Palhinha talks
Toney may well be more attainable than Luiz at this point, especially given Villa’s rumoured hard stance over selling their star midfielder. Alternative options for the 25-year-old are now being mooted, with Fulham star Joao Palhinha apparently liked by the Gunners.
The Portuguese has been incredible under Marco Silva and even attracted summer interest from Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, who ultimately failed to take him (The Guardian).
According to Romano, Arsenal have held internal talks over signing Palhinha, with some inside the club viewing him as a pretty great option to bolster Arteta’s midfield. However, there are also potential roadblocks.
“What I can confirm about Palhinha, this was around the media in recent days, is that there are also English clubs interested in Palhinha,” he told Kick (via Sport Bible).
“One of those clubs is Arsenal. It is true that Arsenal appreciate the player. There are some people at the club who consider Palhinha a very good player. It’s one of the players they discussed internally.
“There are two issues. The first one is the age, he’s not a super young player. I think next year he will be 29. Also, the price. Arsenal cannot spend that amount of money, something like £70-80 million on one more midfielder after spending the big amount of money they invested on Declan Rice.”
Joao Palhinha strengths (via WhoScored) |
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Tackling |
Aerial duels |
Palhinha has made 12 appearances for Fulham this season, scoring two goals and ranking as one of their top performers according to WhoScored. Former Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has also called the 29-year-old an “amazing, amazing” player, with Football Transfers saying he is “similar” to Luiz in playing style.
“I think this year there’s been some sensational [signings] that we have made,” said Mitrovic.
“For me personally, [Joao] Palhinha is the signing of the season so far, amazing, amazing [player]. [Bernd] Leno is the signing that we made that’s amazing. The players who fit straight away and didn’t need time to adapt like before, they fit straight away.”
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