Arsenal Transfers: Lyon star Lucas Paqueta on the Gunners’ radar

Arsenal are reportedly interested in bringing Lyon midfielder Lucas Paqueta to the Emirates with the door open for the 24-year-old to leave the French club.

The transfer rumours are coming thick and fast now. Fresh off Arsenal reportedly being linked with a move for Chelsea star N’Golo Kante, who has one year left on his deal, several reports have surfaced that Mikel Arteta wants to bring Lucas Paqueta to north London.

As per Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports, the Gunners are interested in the 24-year-old, but no official bid has been made. Per L’Équipe, Paqueta has asked to leave the French giants and even knocked back a contract offer in January.

Jean-Michel Aulas, Lyon’s president, spoke to GOAL France and said that offers had been sent for the midfielder.

Aulas said:

"“There are offers for him. There are some players who can feel fully fulfilled by the project, and others who can’t. Economically, we have the means to pursue our ideas and our objectives.”"

It is no secret that Arsenal are after another midfielder. The club has been linked with several so far throughout the summer. Youri Tielemans, Sergej Milinković-Savić, N’Golo Kante, and now Paqueta are some of the names linked with a move to north London. It’s worth noting, however, that these midfielders are all stylistically very different.

Paqueta’s price tag is rather substantial. Ben Jacobs posted on Twitter that Lyon would want €65 million plus add-ons for the 24-year-old. That is a sizeable fee.

Several cheaper alternatives are there for the Gunners to go after, with Youri Tielemans thought to be one of the club’s priorities this summer. Having seemingly agreed on personal terms and it essentially a green-lit deal, the club has, for some reason, not submitted an official bid.

https://twitter.com/DeanJamesAFC/status/1545921413789487105?s=20&t=z3ug8VLcXKs6X2VgKhURog

The other thing worth mentioning in the Paqueta discussion is his position. He can play a variety of roles which can be looked at favorably. He can play as a right-winger (rare), a false nine, a number 10, and even as a deep-lying midfielder. Would Arteta sanction a bid of €65 million for an attacking player, which the club already has in abundance?

Martin Odegaard, Emile Smith Rowe, and Fabio Vieira already have the creativity locked down for the Gunners, so a move for a player of a similar ilk might not be the best decision, given there are other needs of more importance within the team.

Adding in Paqueta is more a luxury than a necessity for Arsenal. Given the numbers mentioned, paying that fee for a player would signal that Paqueta would be starting for Arsenal most weeks, not riding the bench.

While it is just rumors and speculation at this point, it shows that Arsenal is getting serious in the transfer market.