Tottenham rival Arsenal for bargain Houssem Aouar transfer

Here we are again with Arsenal having an invested interest in someone only for another club to show their hand and try to beat them to the post. This time it’s Tottenham entering the race and, of course, it’s Houssem Aouar who is the target.

What is it that Arsenal want in their midfield? Of the vast pool of talent across Europe who could improve the squad, Mikel Arteta is supposedly looking at every profile and player imaginable to raise the ceiling.

Houssem Aouar is a simple one. Almost feels like the easy one.

Any player so heavily courted that becomes available for less than half the price fewer than 12 months down the line is surely an opportunity lying in wait.

Tottenham rival Arsenal for bargain Houssem Aouar transfer as Mikel Arteta eyes midfield reinforcements during summer window

Throw in having the upper hand financially with the rest of Europe scrambling for cash to stay afloat let alone bring in new signings and the only surprise is that it’s less than a month before the new Premier League season kicks off and Aouar is still not an Arsenal player.

As far as negotiations would pan out, with Lyon in desperate need of cash – as made clear by the significant drop in asking price – and previous suitors easing off the case, convincing the midfielder to move to a club without European football feels like the only stumbling block.

Personal terms would surely run smoothly with the Gunners certain to offer the 23-year-old an improvement on his current salary, so why haven’t Arteta and co made their move? We’re talking about £20m for someone worth £50m last September.

Maybe, and here is a thought, he isn’t the number one target?

It does feel admittedly wrong for there to be a sudden change of heart on Aouar in a such a short space of time because the playmaker role he would fill had only been temporarily plugged by Martin Odegaard‘s January loan. Yet here we are.

The lack of signings, and sales, made is beginning to get supporters’ bums twitching. It will double from one to two before the end of the week as Albert Sambi Lokonga joins and other than that the only hot iron is Ben White, who while classed as ‘imminent‘ might take a little while longer with him enjoying some deserved time off.

To get the needle moving Arsenal urgently need an attacking midfielder and (another after Lokonga) central midfielder. These are the problem areas – not Tammy Abraham – that need seeing to.

Will Tottenham kick their rivals into action?

Continued…