Arsenal are one of several Premier League giants to have been linked with Antoine Semenyo.placeholder image
Arsenal are one of several Premier League giants to have been linked with Antoine Semenyo. | Getty Images
Arsenal should sign this player to make all the difference in their Premier League title campaign
Arsenal are hunting down their first Premier League title in over 20 years and will know that their current outfit is as close as any to having the perfect opportunity to finally end the Gunners’ second-placed hoodoo.
The north London outfit are no longer content with trusting ‘the process’ under Arteta and have seen enough gradual improvement over the past six years to suggest that now must be their time to win.
With reigning champions Liverpool falling like a stone in a woeful autumn run and Manchester City still in somewhat of a rebuild, the Gunners are best-placed to win the league and remain favourites, despite recent dropped points to the likes of Chelsea and Aston Villa and a fortuitous late win against rock-bottom Wolves coming as an unwelcome scare.
The January window is about to arrive and Arsenal would be smart to bring in one crucial signing who could prove the difference in pushing their title bid over the line.
Arsenal should steer clear of Antoine Semenyo signing
Arsenal have been cited as one of several Premier League giants interested in Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo, who is set to see a £65 million release clause come active on January 1st. The 25-year-old has bagged seven league goals this term and has proven his worth as one of the top flight’s most potent attackers, but there is an argument that he is not exactly what the Gunners need right now.
Arteta’s side are not believed to be one of the front-runners for Semenyo – believed to be amongst Liverpool, Man City and Tottenham – but interest in the Ghanaian has been touted all the same, as the Gunners are believed to be monitoring his situation.
Semenyo is most comfortable operating from the right, a position where the Gunners are extremely well stocked for the present and future, with star boy Bukayo Saka backed up by impressive understudy Noni Madueke.
While Semenyo is capable of playing on both flanks, Arteta would be smart to target a move for a specialist from the left, where there is the most long-term need for development – and the perfect signing could be available on the market, though he will not come cheaply.
RB Leipzig wonderkid Yan Diomande could be final piece of Arsenal puzzle
The Ivory Coast international hit international headlines earlier this month when he struck an emphatic 18-minute hat-trick for Leipzig against Champions League side Eintracht Frankfurt, leading to reports that the German side have slapped an €100m (£88m) price tag on their top talent.
Arsenal are reported to have ‘held talks’ with the player and his camp, amidst rival interest from Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Liverpool and more.
Having already scored seven goals and bagged another four assists in just over 1000 minutes of action this season, Diomande’s scoring record catches the eye and so does his ground-breaking potential to nail down the left-wing spot at a leading European giant for the next decade.
Gabriel Martinelli has been linked with an Arsenal exit, while Leandro Trossard is now 31 and is unlikely to be the long-term solution – in truth, the left-wing spot might remain the only gap left in Arteta’s starting XI. Both aforementioned players have performed admirably so far this season, but to win the Premier League and Champions League it is necessary to have undoubtedly world-class talent across all areas of the pitch, and question marks remain over both in this regard.
Diomande will not come cheap, and the pressure will be on sporting director Andrea Berta to do what he can to negotiate down Leipzig’s asking price. But the young Ivorian has shown he has what it takes to become one of the world’s best in his position. Like Semenyo and Madueke, Diomande is versatile enough to play on both flanks – but will look to make the left-wing position his own in a key point of difference. He could be the young man to arrive in January and form the final piece of the puzzle for the Gunners to win it all.
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