Football

Arsenal’s creative midfielder search update: Buendia is on Arsenal’s list with Brandt another possibility


Arsenal’s creative conundrum

Arsenal still have plans to pursue the signing of a creative midfielder considering the lack of creation throughout the Arsenal squad which has led to a poor start to the Premier League season.

The emergence of Emile Smith-Rowe in the Arsenal setup has brought about questions as to whether the search needs to be as desperate. The England youth international has been a breath of fresh air and starred in the recent 3 wins against Chelsea, Brighton and West Bromwich Albion.

His goal against Sam Allardyce’s side was a coming together of all of the attributes that the young attacking midfielder has brought since his emergence in the cup quarter-final match against Manchester City. 101 broke down the performances of the 20-year old and showed how his impact has been so important for Arsenal since being selected by Mikel Arteta.

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 29: Emile Smith Rowe of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal at American Express Community Stadium on December 29, 2020 in Brighton, England.The match will be played without fans, behind closed doors as a Covid-19 precaution. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 29: Emile Smith Rowe of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal at American Express Community Stadium on December 29, 2020 in Brighton, England.The match will be played without fans, behind closed doors as a Covid-19 precaution. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

The reason why it has taken some time for the youngster to emerge in Arsenal side is partly down to injury. Smith Rowe was missing for the earlier matches and missed opportunities to play in the Europa League because of a reoccurring problem.

This therefore means there are no guarantees that the injury will not resurface and to not have a player in reserve or even an upgrade brought in would be naive on The Gunners part.

The search continues

Arsenal has been linked both prior and post to their recent turn in form to several creative players. Initially names such as Dominik Szoboszlai, Emi Buendia, Christian Eriksen and Houssem Aouar were all potential candidates linked in the media.

Spanish midfielder Isco also became a name which was brought up due to the fact that he is unfavoured at Real Madrid and is in search of Regular game time ahead of the European Championships in the summer of 2021.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein has however provided an update which does put an end to some of the possible names which have been associated with the club.

Ornstein was clear the Arsenal are not going to rush their pursuit of a creative midfielder and could even wait until the summer if the option to buy the player that they are looking for is not available in the winter window.

Speaking on the possibility of Julian Brandt he said, “I don’t think that situation has developed as yet, that’s not to say it won’t. He was left out of their last match, let’s see if he has any involvement in the next couple and whether he starts to agitate for a move.”

DORTMUND, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 05: Julian Brandt of Borussia Dortmund celebrates after scoring his teams second goal with the team mates during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Borussia Dortmund and Inter at Signal Iduna Park on November 5, 2019 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)

DORTMUND, GERMANY – NOVEMBER 05: Julian Brandt of Borussia Dortmund celebrates after scoring his teams second goal with the team mates during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Borussia Dortmund and Inter at Signal Iduna Park on November 5, 2019 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)

Christian Eriksen is a player who many clubs have been linked with and I have been consistently told that Arsenal do not want to sign him. It’s not the age profile that they’re looking for. Isco is a player who there have been many reports about and I understand that Mikel Arteta is not inclined to pursue that one.”

“He is a player who is on Arsenal’s recruitment list, he’s not at the very top,” said Ornstein on Norwich City’s Emi Buendia. “He’s a player they’ve scouted I think for more than 18 months. They liked him in the Premier League and they liked him the Championship. But they are not going to pay the reported £40 million fee for him and Norwich will be desperate to keep hold of him at any cost because he is so important to their promotion bid.”

Arsenal ‘give up’ on Houssem Aouar pursuit with Christian Eriksen new favourite to make Gunners switch

Saliba will return to Arsenal after 6 month loan deal / Nice will not have the player beyond the season

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.