Arsenal have been urged to complete a shock move for Manchester City's Phil Foden. After spending big in January on Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, and Abdukodir Khusanov, Pep Guardiola is overseeing a squad revamp this summer, with Kevin De Bruyne joining Napoli.
City have been busy with summer signings already, with Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri all joining. Jack Grealish's future appears uncertain, too, with the attacking midfielder left out of City's Club World Cup squad.
It's been said that Grealish's £300,000-a-week wages could be a stumbling block on any departure, which may result in City sending the former Aston Villa man out on loan with the club paying a percentage of his salary. Newcastle United and Napoli have cropped up as possible destinations for Grealish, but one club that have been told not to sign him are Arsenal.
Former Premier League striker Tony Cascarino believes the Gunners should go after Foden rather than his teammate. When asked if Grealish would be a good signing for Arsenal, Casarino told talkSPORT: "No, I think Foden's way more likely. Obviously Arteta worked at Man City with Phil Foden and for whatever reason, I'm sure we'll find out down the line, Phil Foden just hasn't been the player we know him to be this season.
"From where he was the Football Writers' Player of the Year the season before, his performances this year have just not justified that. But all that's happening at City and all the spending that's gone on, I wouldn't be surprised if Foden is allowed to go somewhere.
"Whether City let him go Arsenal, I don't know, but they let Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko go there. If Arsenal could get him, I think Arteta would really consider that, yeah. Foden is only 26, so he's still got a lot of football in him.
"For whatever reason he's had a disappointing year, and I'm sure Arteta would know what's happened and gone on behind the scenes at City, absolutely. And I know some Arsenal fans will say, 'But he's had a poor year', but Phil Foden's a very gifted footballer. A terrific player.
"He doesn't want to go into the next season being in and out of a team when there's a World Cup in the summer. Otherwise he won't play, no chance. And what have City spent in the last two windows? They must be close to £300million."
Foden scored 27 goals and provided 13 assists in the 2023-24 campaign, but managed just 16 goal contributions the following season. And Foden revealed last month that he had been struggling throughout the campaign with personal issues and injuries.
"It's been a frustrating season for me," said Foden. "I've had a lot of things going on off the pitch mentally. It's one of them, sometimes there's things in life that are bigger than football. This season I've struggled a little bit.
"Hopefully come next year I can get my head mentally right and get back where I left off the season before, because I know what I'm capable of doing and the quality I have."