After Arsene Wenger admitted his interest in the Leicester playmaker Riyad Mahrez, the Sun is now claiming that the Arsenal boss is also looking at the possibility of bringing in Arda Turan from Barcelona, with the Gunners’ believed to have been in touch with the player’s agent for the past month or so.
Barcelona’s new head coach Ernesto Valverde has supposedly given his consent for Turan to leave the club, with the Turkish international struggling to make an impact at the Nou Camp since his move from Atletico Madrid, with the formidable trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar ahead of him in the pecking order.
Now while both players are unarguably proven quality, I cannot help but wonder whether Wenger is lining up the duo as replacements for Ozil and Sanchez. When you look at it, Mahrez is an out-and-out playmaker like the German, whilst Turan is an agile and versatile forward somewhat in the mold of Alexis.
Despite Wenger making a statement that Arsenal’s dynamic duo will stay at the Emirates irrespective of whether they sign new contracts or not, you would have to believe that there is no way Arsenal Football Club would risk losing around £90 million in transfer fees by letting the players run out their contracts at the club.
But with that being said, I do believe that Arsenal are making every effort to keep hold of Ozil and Sanchez, with Turan and Mahrez being back-ups if their best efforts are not enough. Arsenal fans can only hope that agreements with both stars can be reached as quickly and possible. While Mahrez and Turan are both decent players, they are certainly not on the same level as Ozil and Sanchez.
Would you be happy with those two coming in?
AT