Arsenal and Real Madrid could help each other out this summer with a maverick swap deal
Premier League title chasers Arsenal are expected to spend big in the summer transfer window, as they aim to finally assemble a team that can be crowned champions of England for the first time since the Invincible season in 2003/04.
The Gunners have a fine group of players at their disposal including Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, William Saliba, Gabriel and David Raya among others. But in many people’s eyes they lack that clinical goalscorer that can take the team to the next level.
Many names such as Jonathan David, Victor Gyokeres, Moise Kean, Liam Delap and Ollie Watkins have all been touted as potential targets to resolve this issue, yet intriguingly it appears that Arsenal’s main summer target is Real Madrid winger Rodrygo, who faces an uncertain future at the Santiago Bernabéu, according to reports in Spain.
Rodrygo is predominantly a right-winger, a position already occupied by Bukayo Saka, but has also proven throughout his career that he can be hugely effective as a false-nine and also as a left-sided winger.
Should Arsenal make a move for Rodrygo?
Rodrygo is regarded as one of the most talented wingers in world football. He’s got a record of 68 goals and 50 assists in 267 appearances for Madrid, has already won two Champions Leagues, three La Liga titles and the Copa del Rey while playing in the Spanish capital and at 24-years-of-age is likely to still have many of his best years ahead of him.
The Brazil international is a player built for the big occasions, having scored twice in the 2023 Copa del Rey final to help his side to a 2-1 win over Osaunua, twice against Manchester City in the 2022 semi-final of the Champions League, and during a 4-1 win over Barcelona in the 2024 Super copa de Espana final.
He’s blessed with immense speed, technical ability and excellent composure in front of goal, and has the potential to be an upgrade on many of the club’s existing winger options and potentially a useful option as a false nine.
Mail Sport report that the player no longer wants to continue his career with Los Blancos, while reports from Metro Sport add that a figure of £67.5m would be required to get the deal over the line.
It seems a fair figure given Rodrygo’s achievements in the game, but it’s not necessarily a move which would resolve Arsenal’s lack of a goalscorer with Rodrygo’s highest league tally being 10 during the 2023/24 season and his average return in the league being around 5.3 per season although this does factor in his years as a teen where he wasn’t a first team regular.
The intriguing summer swap deal which could take place between Arsenal and Real Madrid
It’s widely understood that incoming boss Xabi Alonso prefers to play with a back-three as he did with Bayer Leverkusen, which could lead to the club making an ambitious effort to sign William Salbia, as per reports from Mirror Sport.
Arsenal are determined to keep a hold of the Frenchman, who is widely regarded as one of the best in world football, but could be forced to sell if the 24-year-old does express a desire to leave this summer. It’s led to reports by Football365, which claim that Arsenal would be willing to sell Saliba if they can get Rodrygo as part of the deal. At this stage it’s not yet clear if the reports are stating it would be a direct swap or whether one party would receive some money as part of the deal.
The 3AM verdict: While Rodrygo is a phenomenal footballer, Arsenal’s priority lies in the centre forward position which they need to strengthen with Kai Havertz predominantly being a number 10 and Gabriel Jesus having a poor injury record. Rodrygo would strengthen the frontline’s creativity but would not alone add the goals they need to win a league title based on his numbers in Madrid.
Signing Rodrygo would be a good move for Arsenal but not at the expense of Saliba who has made the team one of the best defensive units in the league. This swap deal would simply be a case of one-step-forward, two-steps-backward from an Arsenal perspective as they’d still have a void at striker and centre back.
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