Villarreal youngster Samuel Chukwueze has been Arsenal’s longtime transfer target as reports revealed that the Nigerian international was once targeted by former manager Arsene Wenger during his spell at the Emirates Stadium.
It was equally claimed that current manager Mikel Arteta was also interested in the player’s services as his employers put a call through to Santi Cazorla, who is Chukwueze’s teammate, to make enquiries over the youngster’s quality and availability in January.
Chukwueze, 20, was also tipped to join Chelsea during the winter transfer window but the Blues failed to make an official move for his services despite numerous reports which claimed that Lampard included him as one of his prime targets.
Other clubs including Liverpool, Lyon Manchester City and Barcelona were all believed to be keeping close eyes on his development under coach Javi Calleja’s tutelage prior to the January transaction period, but none of them was able to lure him out of the Yellow Submarine’s squad.
Having said that, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta must, however, reignite his desire to work with the young man in the next transfer window as he now stands a better chance of winning the race for his services due to some reasons.
Firstly, it must be said that Chukwueze is currently having a less-impressive spell at the Estadio de la Cerámica Stadium, having failed to make the team’s starting lineup in the last five consecutive league matches.
Should he fail to turn things around before the end of the campaign, top clubs might lose interest in him, which means Arsenal will have a massive chance of luring him to the Emirates Stadium in the summer.
In addition, Chukwueze often speaks of his desire to play in the Premier League before the end of his career, the North London club should try to take advantage of the player’s love for the League in the summer.
Another reason why the Gunners should consider Chukwueze’s services is the youthfulness, skills and competition he will inject into the team.
Saka is obviously doing a great job as a makeshift left-back, but signing the Nigerian star will add more depth and quality to the team.
He is obviously talented and his addition to the Gunners attacking setup will be a very huge boost to Arteta’s hope of having a strong team in the next campaign. Hence, all wingers or wing-backs will up their game in order to remain prominent members of the team.
Finally, Arsenal will have a very high tendency of capturing the player’s signature in few amount of money because his financial value is expected to drop as a result of lack of regular game-time this season.
According to a report from Daily Mail, Villarreal placed a huge £60m price tag on the player, but that is expected to change in the summer if he fails to regain his spot in the starting lineup before the end of the season.
