Arsenal are being tipped to use Borussia Monchengladbach’s interest in Eddie Nketiah to land Denis Zakaria.
The two players in question are both into the final season of their contracts at present, and neither club is likely to be keen on losing either for nothing come next summer.
The Gunners currently have a wealth of options for the attacking roles, and Eddie has been restricted to appearing in the EFL Cup so far this term, sitting as an unused substitute once in the Premier League thus far.
While he continues to be on the fringes, you would assume that a new deal would remain unlikely, and we could well look to cash in on his signature if the situation doesn’t improve.
Monchengladbach are now believed to be eyeing a deal for the forward, with their current options failing to net consistently this term, while the Arsenal man has two from two in the EFL Cup.
We have also been linked with a move for Zakaria a number of times in recent windows, a midfielder who plays alongside Granit Xhaka at international level, and one who has proved to be a consistent option in the middle of the park.
His contract is similar to that of Nketiah, albeit with different reasons for not wishing to sign, and the two clubs are now tipped to consider a swap deal of sorts for the pair, with Football.London linking the two deals.
We are set to lose both Partey and Elneny to the AFCON early next year, which will leave us short of options in the middle, and signing a midfielder would make sense, but only time will tell if such a deal could be pulled off.
Patrick
This potential swap IMWO makes perfect sense for
both parties considering each clubs particular
needs atm and the similar contract situations of
each player. Gladbach have zero to no chance of
convincing the Swiss international of extending
his Budeliga stay and will be desperate to get
anything in return for such a quality player. Even
though DK has been somewhat injury prone, when
fit and in form he is a difference maker in the
center of the pitch. Partey esque with even a
little more dynamism going forward. By moving
El Neny and Kolasanic on AFC could EASILY afford
a very competitive wage package for the BMG
man and even sweeten the deal by offering the
club a few million in addition EN.
AMN and SL have both been convincing in there
performances of late but AFC will be short in
midfield numbers come Jan and the opportunity
to add a QUALTY player for possible peanuts to
start the year is simply to good of a scenario for
MA & Edu to pass up.
Had Nketiah played as badly as our Captain performed against Watford he would have been crucified on Social Media.He did very well against Leeds,and given the aging nature of Auba and Lacca, I would be reluctant to unload him unless we have a viable alternative lined up.Sakaria, who has had injury problems during the past 18 months is the type of DM we have been lacking for years.He is on a par with Rodri and Firminho imo, and if we sign him , we will bring real power and physicality to our midfield and enable Arteta to deploy Partey and Lokonga in B to B roles.Where Odegaard would fit into such a set up, I know not, and having pushed to sign him on a permanent basis I should imagine he would be reluctant to cast him aside.As it is, not one of the top five sides in the EPL play with an out and out AM , with their emphasis being towards gaining control through energetic, powerful individuals rather than ball playing matadors of the types of Foden and Bernardo Silva who were used by Guardiola to augment their powerhouse, but skilful midfield trio.There may of course be nothing to substantiate our interest in Sakaria, in which case I may have wasted my time by responding.
Gdad,
Couldn’t agree more on the Auba reference, EN, Laca
or Pepe would have been criminally excoriated by
Gunners around the globe while our £350K a week
WORST man of the match performance predictably
dismissed as a one off by our beloved Captain.
January will be a very interesting window and
personally I believe Arsenals possible moves will
revolve around the decision of Laca. If the Frenchmen
is seriously recruited by the likes of Barca, AM, even
Newcastle and the club receive a decent offer for the
former Lyon man, Edu and MA have to convince Team
Kronke to open there wallets and make a serious
statement of intent. Adding an Isaak, Vlahovic, David
Ikone to the current squad would make AFC a serious
threat for both the Top Four and EPL title.
Heck even a loan move for Jovic and adding Zaharia
would make Arsenal a very dangerous team over the
last few months of the season.
So gossip is a swap deal.
Eddie for Zakaria makes alot of sense, both clubs gain a player who they want, plus means the clubs dont get absolutely nothing come the summer when they walk for free.
Shores up our middle when Partey goes,Elneny is leaving anyway so Zakaria & Niles along with Lokonga can work away in the middle.
Reading also we want £10m for Laca from Barca, again I’d be looking at one of their youngsters for a swap as Barca are broke or we use that £10m to add to the pot to go buy another centre forward. Martinelli should also be given a go up top!
Leno may want to in January also for lack of game time, Kolasnic in his last year too, Pepe will be considering his options also but we will lose alot money on that transfer out.
Bellerin has to come back or gets us a fee same as Matteo (I wish he would come back) which was £11m or something like that in his contract for Marseille.
Excited for Saliba to return who actually stepped into RB postion for Marseille and did really well. Versatile also and could save us a fortune!
We need to get rid of Mari, Holding & dare I say Auba come the summer. We are in a rebuild and he will be the last piece to leave for completion of that rebuild.
Still alot to be done but loads has been done already, plus we are now gathering some momentum on the pitch. Keep it going Arsenal