Should Arsenal chase Locatelli?
Manuel Locatelli. A player destined for the top of football. A player who’s had an excellent international tournament and will have many more in the future. Young with high potential and a decent price tag.
Definitely Arsenal should go for him, right? Hmmmmm….. It’s not that straightforward.
Even though I rate Locatelli very high, if he does not see Arsenal as an attractive club then I am afraid that makes me less attracted to him.
Why sign a player who does not see your club as a first choice? And who knows Arsenal are not even his second choice, as reports have emerged that the 23-year-old would rather stay at Sassuolo if Juventus don’t pay up for him this summer.
Although showing an interest and making an offer is fine, it does not make sense if Arsenal has to “convince” someone to join the club. During the hard times of the club, the players who are not emotionally attached to club will have thoughts like “I should consider leaving this mess behind” rather than “I should work harder to get the club back to where it belongs.”
Arsenal should definitely try to sign him but if they have to convince him, persuading him that Arsenal indeed are a big club, then that’s very off-putting to me.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Thomas Partey, who played for clubs of much higher standing than Sassuolo, jumped at the chance when Arsenal contacted them. They saw something in Arsenal that made them want to make a move (apart from financial gains) to a club, who were not even playing in the Champions League.
Some might point out that Italian players prefer to stay in Italy rather than moving out. Only very few can be seen on the continent. Chelsea’s Jorginho and Paris Saint-Germain’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, Marco Verratti and Alessandro Florenzi (who has now returned to Roma) are the high-profile names that come to mind.
And that’s a whole another point. If that’s the case of him not moving to Arsenal, then I am completely fine with it. I also understand that him preferring to play for a club in his country, that has been at the top for countless years, is natural and does not exactly point out that he does not want to join Arsenal.
But my point is that if he does not find Arsenal as an appealing club then we should stay away from the midfielder and approach those who do want to play for the four-times Premier League and the 14 times FA Cup winners.
Yash Bisht