Arsenal: Orkun Kokcu an interesting Dani Ceballos alternative

Dani Ceballos remains a conundrum at Arsenal, whether they want to fork up the money to purchase him. If not, Orkun Kokcu is an interesting alternative.

I’ve gone on and on about what Dani Ceballos‘s year at Arsenal has looked like, and how it has changed by the month. He went from “how can we keep him” to “he actually wants to stay” to “do we even want him?” to a big old question mark, where he currently sits.

When it came out that he was going to cost £36m, the fan base was split. How do you justify spending that much money on an unproven idea?

Sure, Ceballos makes sense on paper. But in order to prove that he was what we needed, we brought him in on loan to do exactly that—prove it. He has not been able to do that this year. Not always at any fault of his own—injuries have gotten in the way—but he has struggled with consistency even when healthy.

So an alternative is a good idea. Hence Orkun Kokcu, who has been strongly linked to the Emirates for some time.

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Kokcu would cost what Ceballos was supposed to cost—£25m. He comes from Feyenoord, which doesn’t boast the same track record as Real Madrid, but the Eredivisie is renowned for churning out impressive talent, and Kokcu is just another such case.

This year over in the Netherlands, Kokcu has two goals and six assists across domestic and European competitions. Had Ceballos turned that for us, we’d be talking about how he’s worth the money. So seeing someone who is actually doing it makes you wonder if Kokcu isn’t the better option anyway.

He creates more chances than anyone currently at Arsenal and he’s no slouch on defense, as he contributes right at around what Ceballos has been during his time as Granit Xhaka‘s partner.

It’s unlikely that Kokcu is the answer to our midfield. Ceballos wasn’t either though. If we do nab Kokcu, we have to get someone else as well, someone like Thomas Partey or Marcel Sabitzer. But he’s worth the investment if Ceballos can’t turn the end of the season (if it ever comes) into a convincing enough resume.

Plus, he’s only 19-years-old. That’s a huge selling factor when considering what we could get out of him right away. But he wouldn’t even have to produce right away. He can nestle into a prospect status.