Arsenal Getting Creative in Dominik Szoboszlai Pursuit

Arsenal’s interest in Dominik Szoboszlai is very real.

Stretching back before the summer window, Arsenal have been keeping tabs on the Hungarian prospect with a view to a move further down the line, although the recent speculation suggests they may have to fast-track their interest to January.

The reason for that is no secret. European clubs are on red alert and getting their chequebooks out, with sums that needn’t exceed a measly £23m, such is the 20-year-old’s release clause.

As per the Mirror (and every other outlet), Arsenal are extremely interested in activating that most delightful of clauses, although the report claims Mikel Arteta‘s side will seek to pay Red Bull Salzburg the fee in three separate yearly instalments.

It’s a method that has been attributed to Arsenal in recent years – most notably with the club record £72m deal for Nicolas Pepe – when in fact it’s immensely common and done with practically every deal, everywhere.

Not quite as common with release clauses – see Thomas Partey – it’s nonetheless a viable option that will rest on Red Bull Salzburg’s shoulders.

Dominik Szoboszlai will leave in January. His club manager, Jesse Marsch, has said as much, with the decision on where he goes set to come down to whoever can best convince the forward of their project, since the inviting figure required to prize him away heavily undervalues him and can be activated by most.

Arsenal, of course, are cash-strapped, as evidenced by the proposition of instalments, but it’s also been claimed that the club’s Kroenke owners are in a position to spend if they have to. Having injected the finance Arteta needed to secure Partey’s signing, there is now an understanding that this may not be an isolated incident.

Over the next 12-18 months opportunities will arrive to strengthen the team, with Szoboszlai  already being discussed across all sectors of the club. If Die Roten Bullen aren’t overly keen on the instalments, the Kroenke’s stance indicates that there are other options.

Szoboszlai would be another piece in the puzzle for Arsenal, but far from the last. At least two creative players need to arrive to balance the squad.

The Hungarian is already performing to an incredible standard and his ceiling is well beyond view, but while he’d go a considerable way to improving this side in an attacking sense, he’s not the only answer.

Still, one at a time.