Arsenal Must Bite Early On Sofiane Boufal

Arsenal are not in the market for much these days, but there are a lot of exceptional talents that will be available this summer. Sofiane Boufal is one and Arsenal should bite.

Sofiane Boufal is another one of those Moroccan footballers with more technical talent than he knows what to do with. At just 22 years of age, he is an up and coming winger that many are calling the next Riyad Mahrez. He scores goals, he creates chances and he’s versatile enough to play anywhere in the attack.

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The guy can just play and according to his current club, Lille, he will be available this summer. Jean-Michel Vandamme made no attempt to hide this fact, saying via the Metro: “Boufal costs at least £15.6million, that’s the minimum. We’re not a club that sells in the winter window. In June there’s a possibility that he may leave, though there are Premier League clubs after him too.”

Again, the main reasoning behind my hope in this transfer is Arsene Wenger saying that he is always in the market for exceptional talents and along with Vincent Koziello and Granit Xhaka, who I covered earlier today, Boufal is certainly another such talent.

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So far on the year, Boufal has netted seven goals and added two assists across 25 appearances in all domestic competitions. Keep in mind, that is despite playing for France’s 15th placed team. Boufal is succeeding and Lille could probably get a bit more for him than their asking price.

Along with his hard statistics, Boufal is also creating just under three chances per appearance (stats via WhoScored.com).

As mentioned earlier, Boufal’s versatility is also an item of great appeal for Arsenal. This season he has made seven appearances on the left wing, seven on the right and three in the No. 10 role. He has also made an appearance at striker as well.

The only potential problem surrounding Boufal is his discipline. He has considerable difficulty hanging onto the ball, as he is dispossessed a massive 4.2 times per appearance. However, call it blind optimism, but that would figure to decrease when moving to a team where he is not the No. 1 provider.

Boufal also accumulates cards with pretty high frequency, but so did Coquelin and he learned very quickly.

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All things considered, he is worth a shot. More depth on the wings is never a bad thing, especially given how many question marks still exist out wide in this squad. There are options, but none have necessarily solidified themselves. Plus, given that he plays both sides, he can easily find a living in North London.

Alexis’ injury was coped with fairly well by Arsenal, but it became pretty clear that Campbell, the Ox and Walcott still leave room for doubt.

Boufal is a wildcard. But the guy has some qualities you cannot take away. He knows how to score, we know Arsenal can use that. He knows how to create chances. He is a technical wizard. Those three things translate well between leagues.

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If Wenger can work on his discipline, Arsenal can turn Boufal into a gem. However, numerous other clubs are also in on the guy. Inter and Juve have been strongly tied to him from the start, so timing is of the essence. Arsenal have to get to the front of the line to secure his services.