Over the last few days, there has been an abundance of international matches involving many players linked with Arsenal and one, in particular, has shown what a very good player he is.
That player is Turkey’s Cengiz Under who we have been linked with for some time now and is now firmly back on our radar.
The Roma winger had a fantastic game against World Champions France in the Euro 2020 qualifiers on Saturday where he scored the second goal in a 2-0 win.
The 21-year-old is valued at £44 Million and on the face of it that would appear out of our price range, however, that is being too simplistic and there are good reasons to believe that we can afford him if the will is there.
For starters, the so-called transfer budget does not include player sales and you can take it to the bank that there will be some and there is a strong possibility that we could have a budget in excess of £100 Million once the expected clearout is completed.
Secondly, it has been widely reported that we have tabled a bid of £44 Million for Sampdoria duo Dannis Praet and Joachim Andersen and therefore it does seem that we are able to spend £44 Million if needed, albeit on two rather than a single player.
There is, of course, no Champions League football to offer Under and that may be an issue but he is young and playing in next seasons Champions League may not be a priority for him right now, especially when you consider he is on roughly £15k per week with the Italian side and it is just as likely to be the best financial package that determines which club Under ends up signing for.
Put it this way, if we have the will then we have as much chance as anyone of signing the young forward.
As an Arsenal fan that has seen Under play on a regular basis, I am very pleased that we are being linked with such a quality player and I do not take the attitude that we cannot afford to sign him because I believe we can.