Arsenal eye shock Bernardo Silva transfer alternative to Maddison

Arsenal Stand No Chance of Signing Bernardo Silva

Nips that one in the bud, right?

Who knows in the crazy world of transfer business but looking at a player of Bernardo’s calibre it is entirely unjust for someone that talented not to be playing in the Champions League, let alone the Europa League.

In case anyone forgot, Arsenal have neither.

La Liga is where he is most heavily linked to with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in the running, but given the latter are broke, broke, broke and Los Rojiblancos have already splashed out £30m on Rodrigo De Paul, they’re not exactly swimming in cash either.

Who wouldn’t want Silva? Profile-wise he’s near enough perfect as he can assume a central midfield role, a No. 8 role, a wide forward role and play in the No. 10.

This is a player who drifts into the pockets, attacks spaces between the lines and acts as a connective function in a fluid operation. He influences and instigates. More of a wide forward who drifts in, his preference to adopt right half-spaces and wide roles on that side could cause some crossover with Bukayo Saka, which is where there may be stylistic issues.

Do you find a way of shoe-horning him in? A player of his level with sublime dribbling ability, glue-like close control at pace who can be mistaken for being a figure skater with the way he strides across the turf is always of use to someone.

Statistically his numbers for progressive carries, penalty box entries and the volume of progressive passes he receives are what you want in a creative force: someone to always be available who uses possession to its fullest.

If Arteta miraculously managed to sign his former pupil then a 4-3-3 would be how to make the most out of Bernardo. However, the key word is miraculous. There is no way this comes off. As delightful as it would be, and while perhaps not as much of a fit as Maddison in this side, he should be playing Champions League football.