Arsenal: Moussa Dembele’s spirit animal is Alexis Sanchez

Arsenal are still pursuing alternatives to Thomas Lemar and/or an Alexis Sanchez exit, so, piece for piece, Moussa Dembele may be as close as they can get.

Arsenal‘s pursuit of Thomas Lemar seems to be on hold, at the very least until after the preseason tour. If not that, then perhaps we will just have to wait until next summer. In the meantime, Alexis Sanchez is waiting on the Gunners reply to whatever proposal he submitted and suddenly, it’s looking like the need for an alternative is very real.

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Enter Moussa Dembele. The Gunners were tied to the French attacker last year when he was on his way out after a very successful year at Fulham (15 goals, six assists).

Celtic landed him and at the Scottish powerhouse, he drilled home a grand total of 32 goals across all competitions, making him one of the top scorers in the whole of Europe.

So naturally, the Gunners are now a bit curious as to whether Dembele may be the solution to an Alexis exit after all.

The simple answer to this curiosity is that he very well might be exactly what they need. If for no other reason than that he is a very similar player to Alexis.

The French attacker is a very independent and confident player who would much rather do things for himself than trust his team mates to do it for him. That said, he is certainly capable of creating as well.

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But that isn’t his draw. His draw is do sent defenses out to coffee while he strolls in and chips the goalie, making an incredibly difficult progression look ridiculously simple. That’s what Dembele does and that’s what Alexis does too.

Hence my assessment that Dembele’s spirit animal is Alexis.

Dembele is a top-shelf drilling, cool penalty taker capable of chipping the keeper, back-heeling (a-la a successful Balotelli) into the net or curling from distance. The man is a pure-bred goal scorer and given his superb technical ability, he could be an excellent link in the Arsenal attack. He has an insatiable work rate as well, pressuring the opposing defense and often times forcing them to make mistakes.

Dembele chose Celtic last year – admirably, I must say – because he wanted first-team playing time more than he wanted to be on a big team. It paid off, as his confidence is oozing more than ever and the man is just 22 years old.

If Alexis leaves and Dembele is the chosen replacement, that concern for first-team appearances would evaporate. He’d have them.

Next: 3 Reasons Thomas Lemar Transfer Has To Happen

He may be a bit rough around the edges, but confidence is the main thing at this stage of his career and he has it.