If the previous rumours surrounding Ben Yedder to Arsenal were deemed to be true, then Arsenal have missed out on another one of their striking options for the summer. Today Spanish side Sevilla have unveiled Ben Yedder as their latest signing. According to the media last week, Arsenal piped up an interest in the former Toulouse man late into his negotiations with La Liga side Sevilla.
The striker had supposedly already been in contract negotiations with Sevilla, when he was made aware of Arsenal’s late interest and it meant that Yedder would have to pick between the two sides. Unfortunately for Arsenal, either the striker wasn’t in favour of a move to London over Seville, or the Gunners just didn’t show enough interest.
Even though Yedder was supposedly a transfer target for Arsene Wenger this summer, the 25 year old wasn’t his first choice target of course. Arsenal have already failed to lure the likes of Morata, Icardi, Lukaku, Draxler and Vardy to the Emirates in the Gunners’ search for a new striker. Hope does remain on Alexandre Lacazette however, with Sky Sources suggesting that perhaps a deal may be close between parties by the end of the week.
The question remains about this front man however is whether Yedder was actually an Arsenal target, since there were very few rumours doing the rounds on his name. However speaking after the move, Yedder’s now former Toulouse manager, Pascal Dupraz said: ‘He could have gone to Arsenal, who are one of the best.’
Based upon that I’d say that Arsenal showed at least some interest but obviously not enough to see Yedder move to England. In what is rumoured to be a £8 million deal, Yedder would’ve come on the cheap and would’ve been a good option for Arsenal to take in case none of our other deals come off. Yedder has scored the third most goals in Ligue 1 over the past few years behind Ibrahimovic and Lacazette, so let’s just hope Wenger pulls off a deal for the latter as he’s missed out on this one!
By AH