After missing out on Emi Buendia to Aston Villa, Arsenal is seriously considering a move for AC Milan contract rebel Hakan Calhanoglu.
The Gunners want a new creative midfield this season and they have made Martin Odegaard their priority target.
The Norwegian was on loan at the Emirates at the start of this year and finished the last campaign with the Gunners.
His fine performances for them have increased Arsenal’s desire to make him one of their players.
The midfielder wasn’t a part of Madrid’s plan under Zinedine Zidane, but the Frenchman has since left and has been replaced by Carlo Ancelotti as the latest Real Madrid manager.
Odegaard remains Arsenal’s priority signing, but there is no guarantee that they will sign him and that has made them work on alternatives.
CBS Sports reporter James Benge maintains that Arsenal is still keen on Odegaard, but they have been thinking about a deal for Calhanoglu as an alternative to the Norway captain.
He posted on Twitter: “Arsenal still retain strong interest in Martin Odegaard.
“What sort of deal can be done there [if any] will depend on decision of new Real Madrid coaching staff and Florentino Perez.
“Another target who Arsenal are understood to have broached internally is Hakan Calhanoglu, out of contract with AC Milan this summer.
“He is an option, not clear how high on the list he might be but expectation is he’s an alternative to Odegaard.”
No one seems to be buying this dangle…always rated Hakan, but a bit more of a specialist-type, like Eriksen, probably a little too much of a “luxury” purchase than a centerpiece figure…would have liked him coming in when he was first talked about during the latter Wenger years…we should be focusing on more dynamic and youthful players like those I’ve mentioned before, such as Locatelli, Pellegrini or even Malinovskyi, if we want someone who plays
a bit further up the pitch…we need someone who could provide some much-needed cutting edge service and/or supplemental scoring from our midfield positions…all 3 of these players have these traits in their bag of tricks
Hakan is not even close to what would you call a luxury player.. I watched him play all season with milan when he was fit and he’s exactly what we need in our attacking midfield department.. He’s quick on his feet.. He dribbles past players.. Deadly shot.. Deadly pass.. And he’s available for free! Hakan over the overrated odegard anyday
you obviously didn’t read very carefully, as I have always rated him as a player, but he’s a player that is quite a bit older than the above-mentioned options and has a tendency to get lost in games at times…there’s no doubting his quality aspects but there’s a reason why he would be available on a “free” and it’s not because he’s the kind of dominant midfielder you would never let run down his contract…it’s because he’s a “luxury-type” player, who is somewhat expendable for any team in the midst of a transitional phase…don’t get me wrong, if we had a European heavy schedule and money was no object, I would be all over the notion of bringing him in, but that’s simply not the case…not to mention, we have a fairly poor record when it comes to “free” transfers, as it usually leads to us offering ridiculous wages and short-sighted minutes assurances to secure signatures
I did read your comment.. But a player running down his contract has nothing to do with his ability.. Lewandowski went to Bayern for free.. And many other great players moved on for free. But I am with you about our history with free transfers.
btw Lewandowski intentionally ran his contract down so he could go to Munich, unlike Hakan, who had no definitive suitor waiting in the wings
We really ned Hakan, Neves, Solomon manor, and Bissouma and i would sell Laca, willock, AMN, Xhaka, Hector, Nketia even Auba cover for LB, new RB, bring back Saliba and new GK we will be ready to go
Where do Arsenal’s goals come from if it sells Lacazette and Aubameyang? Who would match Aubameyang’s current wages? Why would Arsenal sell a box to box midfielder in Willock, who scored 8 goals in 15 matches, when this is more than the rest of Arsenal midfielders combined have scored in 2 seasons?
Goals will come from free kicks and Hakan and Neves are specialists for that currently we don’t have anybody who can shoot from long range