4 midfield alternatives to Mikel Merino that Arsenal should target

3. Désiré Doué (Rennes)

Our price range is not coming down with this candidate either, but the individual quality remains very high.

Similar to Ruiz, Rennes star Désiré Doué has featured in Arsenal transfer talk before and is certainly befitting of his ‘gifted’ surname.

His diminutive frame should not rule him out of consideration as he is a supreme talent with fine technical ability and can take on the opposition at will, all complemented by a ‘decent’ defensive output for interceptions and blocks (50th and 90th percentile respectively amongst his European peers last year).

Doué could operate almost anywhere across the frontline positions (bar striker) and might therefore pique Arsenal interest, especially given our LCM troubles of late and the unavailability of our first-choice wide target (Nico Williams) this summer.

There is an obvious risk here: Doué is very young (just 19) and not proven at either a Premier League level or in any European top flight, only being part of the Rennes first-team setup for two campaigns. His reported £50m price tag would also be a concern.

It represents a big gamble but there can be no doubt about his talent.

Continued on the next slide...