Arsenal £30m transfer target suffers cruel injury setback

Arsenal head into the summer with supporters brimming with excitement and trepidation. A squad rebuild that has been a long time coming but only a short time in the making is due to be cranked up under Mikel Arteta, with a mountain of areas to tackle. The worrying aspect is how many will be pulled off.

Hector Bellerin looks to be edging closer to a north London departure after ten years of service, leaving a space in both the squad and starting lineup for fresh blood. With Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Barcelona snooping around for the Spaniard, Arsenal could secure a tidy profit.

If their asking price of around £35m is met, the money looks set to be invested straight into a new right-back. A short journey to the south coast is where their priority replacement lies: Tariq Lamptey.

The Brighton defender has burst on to the Premier League scene following his move from Chelsea 12 months ago, earning rave reviews for a string of energetic, exciting and combative displays.

Arsenal £30m summer transfer window target Tariq Lamptey suffers cruel injury setback at Brighton

However, he’s hasn’t featured for the club since the middle of December after sustaining a hamstring issue, one The Athletic have revealed will keep him out of action for the remainder of the campaign.

Despite being tied down to the Seagulls until 2025, Arsenal are the favourites (The Sun) to secure his signature in the summer for a fee in the region of £30m, on the basis Bellerin leaves as expected. Brighton could even charge more considering the Blues are entitled to a hefty sell-on fee.

How much of an impact this injury will have on Arsenal’s chances of signing the defender will rest on his recovery time and what happens with Bellerin’s future, as despite the injury keeping Lamptey out for the rest of the season, he is penciled in to resume training before Brighton’s final match of the season which is, coincidentally, away to Arsenal.

Tariq Lamptey the Ideal Summer Signing for Arsenal

In the eventuality that Bellerin bids farewell to the Premier League at the end of the season – an increasingly likely outcome – he will free up a homegrown spot in the squad.

This is an area Arsenal must be wary about ahead of the coming campaign with the futures of numerous academy graduates in the balance. Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock are both on loan spells away, with neither currently staking a claim for a long-term future at Arsenal.

Maitland-Niles has been granted his wish of playing in central midfield at West Brom, an opportunity he is yet to take advantage of. Casual outings and sloppiness on the ball are not desired traits for someone of his position. Willock has been more impressive yet still is some way off a starting berth under Arteta, thus a loan or permanent move could materialise.

There is also Calum Chambers and Reiss Nelson who are irregular fixtures, and permanent moves elsewhere are on the cards.

Whoever replaces Bellerin would ideally suit the homegrown quota, which Lamptey does, although solely from a talent perspective there are few better candidates. Blistering pace is matched with an explosiveness in and out of possession. He may only be small but he relishes the physical aspect and never shies away from being clattered, or dishing one out.

He’s exciting, young, hungry to develop and has scope to improve further. What will be key in Arsenal’s adoration is his tactical understanding, having absorbed Graham Potter’s philosophy in quick time and shown a maturity in positioning and game management.

All areas of his game in need of fine-tuning will be traits Arteta will be able to mould accordingly, including his preference for inverted full-backs who can drift infield. It would be a considerable outlay, granted, but if Brighton fail to avoid relegation this season his price may drop to an unavoidably enticing number.