Mikel Arteta is reaping the rewards of investing in young exciting talents currently, and he has no reason to change his ways in the January transfer window.
Arsenal beat Sunderland 5-1 in their EFL Cup quarter-final tie on Tuesday night despite fielding a rather young and heavily rotated side.
Eddie Nketiah showcased why he feels he deserves more game time and thus will leave the club at the end of the season, with a hat-trick against the Black Cats.
Out of favour Nicolas Pepe and 18-year-old Charlie Patino were also amongst the goals.
The Gunners are currently fourth in the table and are showing signs that there is the potential for future success at the Emirates Stadium, and Arteta appears to be keen to improve his chances of that by splashing the cash again in January.
Here, Mirror Football round-up the latest transfer rumours circulating around the red side of North London.
Dusan Vlahovic’s agent update
Dusan Vlahovic has been linked with a transfer to the Premier League for the last few months, and the Arsenal would be frontrunners for his signature if it wasn’t for the striker’s agent.
According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, via Sport Witness, the Gunners are ‘ready to pay’ the €80million (£67m) fee required to persuade Fiorentina to let the Serbian depart.
However, Vlahovic’s agent is unwilling to negotiate with Arsenal because his client wants to remain with his current club until the summer.
Though the Gunners are in no desperate need of a forward yet due to the good form of Martinelli, they could miss out on their target due to the likelihood of more teams becoming interested in the striker – who has scored 16 goals in 18 appearances in the Serie A so far this season.
Aubeyang placed in the shop window
Have Your Say! Who do Arsenal need to sign in order to be capable of mounting a title charge next season? Comment here.
According to ESPN, the Gunners are willing to listen to offers for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gabonese forward was stripped of the club captaincy last week following a ‘disciplinary breach’ and has since been frozen out of the first team and forced to train alone.
The report claims that Aubameyang could get back in the good books of Arteta but the club are also not overly desperate to keep the 32-year-old at the club and are all ears for when a top club arrives with an offer.
Barcelona and Juventus are the two clubs who have been tipped to pursue the former Borussia Dortmund forward, though the bumper contract that Aubameyang signed last year could deter interest from elsewhere.
Arteta handed boost in pursuit of David
Arsenal have been heavily linked with signing striker Jonathan David, and their pursuit of Canadian has been handed a major boost thanks to the comments of his agent.
It has been revealed that the 21-year-old with leave Ligue 1 outfit Lille at the end of the season, and the player is interested in coming to the Premier League.
Speaking on Radio Canada’s So Soccer podcast, David’s representative, Nick Mavromaras, said: “For us, the goal is to finish the season with Lille, but this will be his last season there for several reasons.
“I think the Premier League is a great option for him. I think he likes Spain a lot too. These two leagues are the main priorities for him, but nothing is being ruled out. But I can tell you that, today, there’s no official offer.”
David is the top scorer in the Ligue 1 with 11 goals so far this season and very much fits in with the sort of young talents Arteta is looking to add to his ranks.
