According to Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal has been chasing the signature of Moussa Diaby for two years.
The French speedster has become one of their main attacking targets in the last few months and they could make the transfer happen in the summer.
If Diaby moves to London at the end of this season, it might seem the Gunners only just made the decision to add him to their squad.
However, Romano reveals they have been watching him and working on the move for two years.
He writes in his exclusive column on Caughtoffside:
“Arsenal have appreciated Moussa Diaby for a long time. It’s almost two years following him but the same happened with other clubs, including PSG and Newcastle. Bayer Leverkusen wanted to keep him last summer and in January, for this summer, it will depend on the value of the proposals.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
We scrapped our old scouting system and there was a lot of outcry at that decision, with some fans and pundits thinking we will no longer do a proper scouting job.
However, we have since signed some of the fine players and this revelation shows our new scouting system works very well.
If Diaby eventually moves to the club, he will likely not be a flop because we have spent time studying him before making the decision.
I don’t think we need another +50 million winger. Martinelli, Saka, Trossard are all playing so well it would be kind of foolish to spend tens of millions on a winger who would be 3rd/4th choice. Then there’s Nelson as well.
If MA still wants a winger, I would look for Manor Solomon who’s played quite well recently for Fulham where he’s on loan. He would be relatively cheap.
Since we haven’t sign Diaby in January, we probably won’t.
Seems the gaffer may like a speed monster of another sort, to play on the counter when the going get rough.