Arsenal target Edinson Cavani could be ostracised from Paris Saint-Germain in either the January or summer transfer windows, with tensions between the Uruguayan striker and the French champions clearly on the rise.
As noted by Colin Harvey of the Daily Star, the striker missed the club’s first training session on home soil in 2015 alongside fellow former Napoli man Ezequiel Lavezzi. Clearly perturbed by their pair’s absence, manager Laurent Blanc refused to rule out the prospect of a transfer for either, per Harvey’s piece.
“Transfer? We can't say that today. We're going to wait until they arrive,” said the French boss. “We'll expect some explanation, and then we'll make sporting decisions as a club.”
Blanc also claimed that the duo were expected to return to training on January 2, but as noted by Bleacher Report’s French football expert Jonathan Johnson, that wasn’t the case:
Arsenal’s interest in the player has long been reported and is noted in Harvey’s piece too. Here’s a look at what the forward could potentially bring to the Emirates:
Naturally, the omissions have triggered an influx of speculation regarding both players and according to Anthony Chapman of the Express, the Gunners will be joined by Manchester United and Liverpool in the race for Cavani. But according to Uruguayan journalist Valentin Fletcher, per Chapman’s piece, any move for the Uruguayan will likely happen this summer:
For the time being, Cavani will not leave PSG until the end of the season, as his agent confirmed.
The winter camp? Like [Ezequiel] Lavezzi, he was given permission to miss it by the club. He wants to win the Champions League with PSG [this season].
His future? This winter he will remain in Paris, but at the end of the season there is a strong chance he will go somewhere else, in particular to England or Spain.
According to Chapman, Cavani is valued at around £62 million by the Parisians, but you suspect that if they are happy for him to leave the club, then a deal could be struck for a far less pricey premium.
After all, while the former Napoli man is a classy operator at the sharp end of the pitch, he’s not quite as clinical as he was during his Partenopei days, per WhoScored.com:
That’s probably got a lot to do with the fact he’s been played out wide to accommodate the colourful talents of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a sustained run as an orthodox centre-forward would surely help Cavani to rediscover his clinical edge. But for a club like Arsenal, January won’t—and shouldn’t—be the time to splash megabucks on a striker.
The midfield and defensive areas of this team are in far more pertinent need of addressing. The former of the two positions is a segment of the squad that has long been left unattended and if Arsenal are to challenge for top honours come the end of the campaign, a signing of that kind of stylistic make-up will be imperative.
Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin is one player that has long been linked with the Gunners, per Nick Lustig of the Daily Star, and as noted by Bleacher Report’s Sam Tighe, he’d be an astute acquisition:
Another intriguing prospect is Ilkay Gundogan. According to Chapman of the Express, Borussia Dortmund are keen on listening to offers for the German international midfield as his contract expires in the summer of 2016.
Here’s a look at what kind of qualities he could bring to the Emirates:
The notion that Dortmund may be looking to sell is an understandable one. After all, the club is still reeling from Robert Lewandowski’s free transfer to Bayern Munich last summer and to lose a player of Gundogan’s class in the same manner would really sting. Per Chapman’s piece, the 24-year-old playmaker has also admitted that he’s keen on a move away one day.
“Playing outside Germany is one of my big goals,” said Gundogan. “If one day I leave here, I'd like to play in Spain or for one of the big teams in England.”
Despite Dortmund’s abysmal end to 2014, in Gundogan they can take a few positives. The midfielder has returned to the first-team fold after missing most of the year with injury problems. Although he’s not quite accrued the levels he showcased in the 2012/13 season yet, the German is steadily rediscovering his finest form.
It was something touched upon recently by German football expert Stefan Bienkowski:
Stylistically, he’s not what Arsenal are looking for, though. Gundogan is a wonderfully intricate player that’s vital to Dortmund’s dynamic, vertical style of play, but he’s not the kind of player that will sit and break up opposition attacks. At this moment in time, Arsenal are in far more desperate need of the latter.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1BsZDPn
via IFTTT January 02, 2015 at 11:51PM
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