It is being reported in the media that Arsenal are interested in yet another teenager, however, this one could be credible due to comments made by a teammate.
The player in question is Burnley teenager Dwight McNeil who has attracted the attention of multiple clubs including Arsenal and Manchester City.
Other clubs reported to be tracking the England U20 international are Newcastle and Everton.
What is interesting about this particular speculation is that the local newspaper the Burnley Express, are convinced that the named clubs are highly interested and the local papers tend to be more accurate than the nationals.
Add into the mix comments from teammate James Tarkowski, when asked about interest in McNeil, said
“It’s only natural,”
“Any player doing well in the game will have people sniffing around them, especially with the age he is. He’s still so young and he’s got so much time to improve.
“That statistic [most productive teenager in the PL] wouldn’t surprise me because of his quality and the demand from him.
“He wants the ball, he wants to beat people, he’s gone to some big places and gone up against some big players and shown how good he is.
“Away at Anfield, even though we were beaten, he was our best player that day and he’s probably been one of our best players over the second half of the season. That shows how good he is but he just needs to keep doing that now.”
The 19-year-old is clearly talented, he was invited to train with the senior England squad and from 21 Premier League appearances he knocked in three goals and five assists, not bad considering how Burnley struggled last season.
He would be a good alternative to other Arsenal targets, Bournemouth Ryan Fraser and Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha in the event we fail to land either player.
This rumour could be one of those sneaky ones that remain under the radar before becoming a strong possibility.
No fee has been mentioned but he carries a valuation of just over £16 Million which is rising all the time.
Never heard of Daniel James, Claude-Maurice and him, but these young players would surely have something to prove
Because of his unimpressive stats, Arsenal should only gamble on him if he is available under 10 M. Otherwise it is better to promote Nelson, Saka and Amaechi
Meanwhile spuds are signing Ndombele for £65 million. How is that possible when they have just built a £1 billion stadium?
16m? Huh we ain’t paying that!!
I like that he said he wants the ball, he wants to beat people. Some AFC fans don’t take that enough into consideration. You see more of the ball it also usually means chances of an error increase, but some of our fans don’t care about that it’s like they expect robots. Ramsey was a good example, and I’d much rather see someone trying and calling all through a game even if it means an extra mistake compared to someone who hasn’t had half the touches he has.
So wait.. Spurs signing a player for £65m, a club record, while they just finished their stadium. Where is their stadium debt?
Remember that BS we were fed about our stadium debt and not able to spend? Why aren’t Spurs affected by this?
?
They will get £75 million for Eriksen from Real Madrid so will be £10 million up.
The stadium will be serviced on a structured loan paid using massively increased match day and other events revenue and sponsorship.
Let’s not forget they also earned mega bucks from the Champions League.
AND, before anyone mentions their billionaire owner, he puts nothing into the club.
Giving excuses
You are absolutely right Declan. What I see Spurs doing there is not compromising the quality of there team. Would arsenal commit that much on getting a player if we get exact that amount for any of our players. This is a team that can not even sell properly. Agreeing a two year loan @ 9m and sell for 27m for Torreria is ridiculous Putting that amount together we get 36m for a player we bought 30m and gave 4m a year. Plus and minus we made 2m profits. If this is true I’m done following the club after 22 years. And this is not because we are selling Torreria but because we don’t know how to do anything right. For a start, he isn’t the first player we should be looking to sell. I don’t give a damn if he doesn’t like it here. There is Jekinson, Elneny, Mustafi, Xhaka, Ozil ……. Secondly that price is ridiculous. We have clubs asking for premium price for the players we are after and we are given one of best away for free. 2m is nothing in today’s football, we can as well not making anything. Ndombele and Torreria situation is very similar. Bought for around the same amount, though Torreria is more expensive, played a year of football and Lyon is asking for 60m and we asking for 36m with stupid 2 years loan move. This better not be true.
Question? What happened to the ADIDAS money we were promised
Good people, is there any credibility behind the Zaha rumours… I know I shouldn’t raise my hopes up , but I am going to anyway
None whatsoever!
He does not cost £20Mil!
I’m with you on that – this is one player I really hope we end up with.. but I honestly can’t see it happening – why do we do this to ourselves every bloody time?!!! ?
I have little expectation Sue..that way I can kid myself I won’t be disappointed, but I always am!;)
Tis the life of an Arsenal Fan under a self sustaining model with an owner who is not in sport to win.
I start off with that mindset, but then am easily swayed into thinking “it’ll be different this time, of course we’ll spend big & buy the player we’ve been linked with all summer” and 9 times out of 10, it doesn’t materialise & I’m crushed ?? oh the joys haha!
Day dreaming of a Zaha-Laca-Auba frontline, and bring on Reiss Nelson on the 70th minute for a bit of razzle dazzle ?
What a dream!! ???
Unfortunately as much as that is a wet dream front 3, what about our erectile dysfuctional defense ? ?
Well Le Coq.. that certainly killed the moment ?
???
I don’t know why I’m getting this feeling Edu would bring in Everton Soares from Gremio as our preferred left winger inside forward,the lad is just too good not no go for.
Unlikely
He has a release clause of 80m Euros
What is the point of us signing another talented youngster. He’ll be with us for a couple of years, then go on loan and then sign for a club in the bottom divisions without getting a sniff of our first team. Remember a lad called Crowe that we got from Aston Villa, he was supposed to be the next big thing, never got a chance with us.