Arsenal eye cut-price Guido Rodriguez deal to replace Xhaka

Arsenal and their pursuit of the perfect midfielder goes on. Mere days after the summer transfer window has opened and amid the start of the European Championships it appears there is no let up with the rumour mill.

Granit Xhaka’s departure will leave a hole. If the hole was a concrete one it can’t be filled up with sand. Whoever comes in to take that place, be it like-for-like or with a different profile, must be an upgrade or else Arsenal will rue the day they let him leave.

The legacy of the Swiss will be determined by the quality of the player they replace him with. A host of midfielders are out there in the market, some who the club have been linked with and some who the club could look to target.

Across the team there are numerous areas to tend to, some being a higher priority than others. Just under 12 weeks remain of the summer transfer window and there is plenty of time to source the acquisitions that will improve the club. The midfield has to be done right.

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Arsenal eye bargain Guido Rodriguez deal to replace Granit Xhaka but transfer window focus should be on immediate results

As far as profiles go, you can get away more with signing a right-back who may take more time to embed themselves into the club and the Premier League than a central midfielder. Whoever comes into the engine room has to hit the ground running. There can be no passengers in that department, less so than anywhere else.

Someone who has been linked with Arsenal occasionally over the past few months is Real Betis‘ Guido Rodriguez, who the Gunners ‘intend to negotiate’ for in a bid to drive down his asking price to a figure that would be a bargain on his original valuation.

That valuation comes in the form of his astronomical €80m release clause. La Liga do love those, don’t they?

Rodriguez is a player who multiple Spanish reports have stated in the past Arsenal are interest in, with La Razon the latest to add he’s been tracked by the club for some time. Betis, like so many others, are in need of raising funds through player sales to balance books impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and as a result ‘would be happy’ to move him on for closer to €30m.

Establishing himself as a key member of the Betis side since his move in 2020, the Argentine has earned a strong reputation as a human shield in front of the back four, clocking up some impressive defensive numbers, but not much else.

However, talent aside, there is a certain profile Arsenal are after and Rodriguez is not it.

Continued…