The newest name in contention to solve Arsenal’s striker issue is a player who replaced a Manchester United flop at his current club – and the Gunners could have an advantage over three Premier League rivals in the race to sign him.
Everyone knows Arsenal need a new striker if they really want to challenge for the Premier League title next season. Finding one will be one of the first orders of business for their incoming sporting director, Andrea Berta.
Reports have already listed the likes of Benjamin Sesko and Alexander Isak as being on his shortlist. But some fresh information claims Arsenal’s scouts have their eyes on a new potential target to strengthen their attack.
Football Transfers claims Arsenal’s scouts are currently being impressed by Santiago Castro, who has started to catch the eye in Serie A this season for Bologna.
Bologna signed Castro last January and he was promoted to a more regular role after they sold Joshua Zirkzee to Manchester United in the summer. So far this season, he has nine goals from 36 games.
Castro also earned his first taste of Champions League football with Bologna during the league phase and could remain at that level if Arsenal buy him.
Arsenal might be able to make the most of their positive relationship with Castro’s current club, from whom they have also signed Takehiro Tomiyasu and Riccardo Calafiori in recent years.
That could be particularly important, because they aren’t the only club interested in the 20-year-old striker, but could have an advantage thanks to their previous business with Bologna.
DON’T MISS – Andrea Berta: 11 of his best transfer deals amid Arsenal sporting director talks
Arsenal face competition for Castro
The other Premier League clubs linked with Castro in the report are Aston Villa, Newcastle United and West Ham.
In addition, he is also being tipped to make a step up in Serie A with Inter – whose current striker Lautaro Martinez is someone Castro has been compared to and idolises.
But Arsenal could leave all of them in the dust if they can come to terms with Bologna for a second summer in a row.
This time, the asking price for Castro would be in the region of €25-30m (£21-25m). If the bidding war reaches the latter value, Bologna would be trebling their investment.
They still have Castro under contract until 2028, but even though they are still in with a faint shout of another Champions League qualification, they could come under pressure from more powerful clubs like Arsenal this summer.
And while Castro’s scoring rate isn’t sensational yet, he’s still a developing player and Arsenal scouts are said to be impressed by his consistency.
It’s a top-class upgrade that Arsenal need up front, though, and TEAMtalk sources have named the likes of Isak, Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Dusan Vlahovic as options on the striker shortlist.
Latest Arsenal transfer news
There have also been rumours in recent hours about Arsenal swooping for Victor Osimhen after he completes his loan spell at Galatasaray from Napoli.
According to claims in his native Nigeria, Osimhen’s £62m release clause is something Arsenal are willing to trigger in the summer.
That clause is £4m higher than Sesko’s – and on that front, the Slovenian’s preference between Arsenal and Tottenham has come to light.
Elsewhere, Arsenal have reportedly ‘promised’ to bid for a Brazilian right-back.
Who is Santiago Castro?
A key reason behind Bologna breaking into the Champions League places last season was their shrewd recruitment – and it’s looking like January signing Castro is the next gem they have unearthed.
Castro, born in Buenos Aires, began his career with Velez Sarsfield, scoring nine goals from 65 appearances for the Argentine side.
He earned his move to Bologna in January 2024, usually coming on as a substitute for future Manchester United forward Joshua Zirkzee during his first half-season in Serie A. Indeed, of his first six sub appearances for Bologna, five were directly in place of Zirkzee.
Since the Dutchman’s departure in the summer, Castro has stepped up, starting six of Bologna’s first seven Serie A matches this season. He scored in all three of their league games – two of those goals being from outside the box – in September, the month in which he also made his Champions League debut.
Castro has been playing as a centre-forward, but when Bologna announced his arrival 10 months ago, they described him as a player “who loves to be involved in all kinds of up-front action”, citing his “agility [and] rapid finishing skills”, along with the fact that he is “good in the air and determined.”
Back in his native Argentina, Castro also showed his capability of playing on the wing, which explains partially why he currently has a far superior goals-to-games ratio with Bologna than he did with Velez.
But that may also be a natural side-effect of a 20-year-old player rapidly maturing and taking strides towards fulfilling his potential as he develops within one of Italy’s best talent systems in recent times.