Not for the first time, this talented, bullish attacking midfielder is being tipped for a switch to Premier League challengers Arsenal.
And when two pundits, independently of each other, are suggesting that the Emirates Stadium might be the ideal destination, then perhaps there is something in this after all.
Now, PSV Eindhoven are facing quite the challenge from Premier League clubs heading into 2025.
TBR can confirm that Liverpool and Man City are checking on Ricardo Pepi, the in-form USA striker who followed up that Groningen hat-trick with a stoppage time winner against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League last week.
Malik Tillman scored twice in that 3-2 comeback victory; a genius free-kick preceding a long-range thump. Former Rangers loanee Tillman is on Aston Villa and Tottenham’s radar.
Now, at this stage, there is nothing concrete to suggest that Ismael Saibari is an active target for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side.
But, 10 months after Saibari was tipped for a potential £50 million move to Arsenal by compatriot and former Morocco international Ali Boussaboun, PSV icon Rene Van der Gijp is also struggling to shake the thought of the Barcelona-born 23-year-old taking his quick feet, ball-carrying brilliance and fierce shooting to North London.
PSV Eindhoven midfielder Ismael Saibari celebrates the goal during the match between Utrecht and PSV at Stadium de Galgenwaard for the Dutch Erediv...
Photo by Marcel van Dorst / EYE4images/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Pundit ‘convinced’ Arsenal will sign PSV Eindhoven ace Ismael Saibari
“I think I’m going to be right. The only one in the PSV squad who’s going to make it to the top of European [football] is Saibari,” Van der Gijp tells Vandaag Inside. “Just you wait.
“That Saibari, he has such a drive. He has everything a complete midfielder needs. He is always on the move. With Saibari I really have the idea that he will end up at Arsenal.
“I am really convinced of that, yes.”
Saibari has often been in and out of the PSV XI since given his breakthrough by new Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy in the 2022/23 season.
But, under former Ajax and Borussia Dortmund coach Peter Bosz, Saibari is finally starting to nail down a starting place, and with very good results.
With a brace to go with his assist during the 5-2 hammering of FC Utrecht over the weekend, Saibari has now taken his tally to four goals and six assists from 16 games this season. He is already just three away from matching his tally of ‘goal contributions’ from the whole of 2023/24.
Saibari has ‘wonderful technique’ and could help ease Martin Odegaard’s burden
“Ismael Saibari is great. He has wonderful technique, is so strong and really a team player,” ex-Feyenoord striker Boussaboun told NU in January. “And he is so humble you almost want to hug him.
“If Saibari does well there, his market value will rise by 10 or 20 million euros. I wouldn’t be surprised if Arsenal pick him up after the season. If PSV sell him for less than 60 million euros, they have failed there.”
Arsenal might well be in the market for an attack-minded ‘number eight’ in the New Year.
Leandro Trossard is a target for Saudi Arabia. Fabio Vieira could depart permanently following a loan spell at FC Porto. Arsenal failed to win four of their seven Premier League matches during Martin Odegaard’s ankle injury, meanwhile, with Saibari a potential alternative.
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