Arsenal and Lille have done a lot of business in the past few years, and the French club sold Nicolas Pepe to the Gunners for a record fee in 2019.
The likes of Gervinho and Gabriel Magalhaes have also swapped the French club for the Emirates.
They could be joined by another player on that list soon as a new report claims the Gunners have an interest in Sven Botman.
The Dutchman has emerged as one of the finest defenders in Europe while playing for the Ligue 1 side and the top clubs around the continent want him on their squad.
The Italian publication, La Repubblica, reports that Arsenal is also on his trail.
The report claims the Gunners will compete with some of the best clubs on the continent for his signature.
Mikel Arteta needs new players who can help his team get back inside the top four after they went very close to achieving that in the last transfer window.
The Gunners have remained in the race for his signature, but competition from Newcastle and AC Milan threatens to beat them to his signature.
His transfer might come down to the club that offers him the better financial package, and Arsenal will pray he prefers a move to the Premier League.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
Video – The JustArsenal Show: Should Arsenal make Saka our highest paid player?
Learn more about Arsenal’s proud history – Decade by Decade CLICK HERE to visit our new Arsenal History section
This has all the earmarks of a disaster for both player and club. While Botman would probably make a lot more money at Arsenal, Botman , 24, is a regular starter at Lille, with a solid 10 year career ahead of him.
A move to Arsenal where,, unless the Gunners sell either Ben White or Gabriel Magalhaes, he would be third-choice at best. With Rob Holding and William Saliba already under contract, signing Botman would also signal to both they are not going to play.
Fans always think signing star players is the route to a better team, but that is only true if the club can manage them and provide a venue for them to prosper both financially and in terms of their careers.
Arsenal signing Botman will almost certainly cost them both Holding and Saliba (unless their agents are idiots). Saliba already said he wants to stay in Marseilles to play Champions League football. A pursuit, even if it fails, of Botman would harden that resolve. Holding is under rated by Arsenal fans and would have plenty of options if he chose to leave.
What Arsenal need is to hold onto Saliba and Holding, or sell Saliba and sign a good quality centerback who would accept a squad player role or promote a player like Daniel Ballard into the first team where he might grow into a first team player.
Botman is a player who will expect to play first-team football, just as Saliba does. Signing him and not delivering will just give Arteta and Arsenal another manager/player dispute that will lead to acrimony and another loss of a star player for little or no fee in a year or two.
PAUL, ALL THAT WORRY ABOUT A PLAINLY FALSE RUMOUR.
JUST USE YOUR SENSE AND STOP FRETTING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT HAS NOT A CAT INHELLS CHANCE OF HAPPENING. ITS ALL BO****KS, OBVIOUSLY!
Err, Jon it might not be. Calm down
PAT, I CANNOT BE CALM WHEN READING PLAIN FALSEHOODS. Nor will I ever be. If you don’t know that by now then you don’t know me at all.
Waste of resources.
Sign the Ice Man Jonathan David instead.
Hi guys
We prefer the best players at arsenal and if botman can offer more than what our current defenders do then its ok but if not then let’s not waste team finances for unpromising business.
There are some gaps interm of quality that we need to close. Look at our middles – the reliables are only xhaka and to somhow elneny! We need some additional powerhouse to help them – Brazilian ramires or boussoma pays the $$
The ghanian is prone to injuries and we nonsensely decided to let our promising guendouzi leave – coaching and managerial failure proven. We need two quality and strong midds
One relible and lethal striker whose not prone to injury – I count on sccammaca and one goal scoring winger like richarlson to hit top spot.
Also an experiencing coach otherwise this ended season would be a success to remember
We should focus on improving the midfield.
Xhaka is not a top 4 player, end of.
And we need a striker who can score 20 league goals.
That’s where the money should go.
This would be amazing. Another CB. I’m sure we wouldn’t but you never know these days
Absolutely, and why not. Saka is our stand out player in practically in every match he has played. Opposition players are always injuring him and he does not get enough protection from the referee. With Arsenal there is pain but no gain. He earns 30k/ week that is shameful. The likes of Laka and Auba earned exorbitant wages. Come on Arsenal pay the man before we lose him to the bigger clubs. Liverpool are sniffing around and if Arsenal don’t wake up we will lose Martinelli as well. Top 4 is not good enough we want the premier league title.