Arsenal: Dennis Praet, Joachim Anderson bid believable in every way

Arsenal have reportedly made a second joint offer for Sampdoria duo Dennis Praet and Joachim Anderson. The rumours are believable in every way.

There are plenty of transfer rumours that you can immediately dismiss off the bat. An ounce of logic is all that is required to suss out that they have little foundation in the truth. But sometimes, every now and then, there is a report that carries genuine credence and reasonably fits into a realistic scenario.

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For Arsenal, fans often have to deal with the former. Just look at some of the reports that are already surfacing this summer. Most will not be true. But there is one that has arisen through the mire that makes actual sense and is easily perceivable.

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According to reports in Italy, which are nicely summarised in this piece by the Metro, Arsenal have made a second offer for Sampdoria duo Dennis Praet and Joachim Anderson, the pair seen as potentially key players in the Unai Emery rebuild. The reported fee for this improved double bid? £44 million, bang in the region of the rumoured summer budget that Emery has been given to work wonders with. After pondering the possibility of these moves actually coming to fruition, I can completely and utterly buy their validity from every conceivable angle.

First and foremost, they are the right price. Unlike the tenuous links with Wilfried Zaha, both Praet and Anderson come with a fee that the club can actually afford. An average of £22 million is right around the kind of fees the Gunners paid for players last summer and is clearly the price range that they are looking to take advantage of.

Secondly, they play positions that have been highlighted as needs by Emery. With the departure of Aaron Ramsey, a box-to-box midfielder is a key issue that Emery would like to solve. Praet very much falls into that category of player. Similarly, Anderson, a centre-half, addresses a direct need of the team, arguably the greatest need of the team.

Thirdly, they are the right age profile. Praet is 25 and is just entering the prime of his career. He is not too young that he cannot be expected to contribute right away — he made 37 league starts last season — but his also young enough that he has both plenty of years at the top remaining and a strong re-sale value for some time. Anderson is in the same range, turning 23 a week ago. He also made more than 30 Serie A appearances last season.

Fourthly, they are gettable. Unlike trying to chase a Nicolas Pepe or Matthijs de Ligt, Praet and Anderson could both feasibly be interested in a move to a Champions League-less Arsenal. The fit works both ways: the club likes the players; the players like the club.

And finally, and perhaps most importantly, the two clubs have prior dealings just a year ago, with Lucas Torreira transferring to the Emirates, and clearly have a strong relationship in the transfer market. It should not shock anyone that the transfer market is a game of relationships. Sometimes, the best players are not signed because clubs and agents have better relationships with worse players, however illogical that may sound. Arsenal and Sampdoria obviously have a sound relationship and so it is reasonable to expect them to be able to thrash out another deal.

All this may mean nothing, of course, and it could very well be the case that Arsenal are and never were interested in a deal for either Praet or Anderson. But, from a purely logical and external perspective, there is a lot that fits together. That is why I will be watching this one closely. It might just have legs.