Arsenal have been strongly linked with a move to sign Emi Buendia from Norwich City this month, but different sources are getting different information.
Fabrizio Romano has made his people at the Guardian believe that an offer from Arsenal is ‘in the pipeline’ however, having already made contact with his agents over his possible acquisition.
While Romano is very-much acknowledged as an in-the-know, the people at The Athletic are known for being professional and reliable also, and with David Ornstein’s contacts at Arsenal, I’m tempted to believe his information to be the more reliable.
The other publication states that the Gunners are no longer interested in making a move for the Canaries midfielder, possibly down to their £40 Million valuation of the Argentine, although some reports such as the Independent claimed that we would be looking to offset part of the fee with either Joe Willock or Reiss Nelson.
As we know, the game of Chinese Whispers is rife in all circles, and it wouldn’t be totally unreasonable to believe that there was elements of truth in all of this.
Arsenal were most likely very interested in a deal for Buendia this month, but his importance to Norwich’s push for promotion is just too high. This being said, it would still make sense for our club to be lining up a move for Emi, but it may just be more likely that we wont be able to see him arrive at the club until the summer.
Regardless of the situation, our supposed target was well-known to us in the summer, and the club failed to follow up that interest, and they should have simply done the business in August or September and no doubt have paid less than the current asking price.
Would Buendia’s arrival hamper Smith Rowe’s emergence? Does a summer move appear more likely? Who do you find more credible, Romano or The Athletic?
Patrick