Arsenal could have two ambitious attacking signings in mind for January. Eli Junior Kroupi and Kenan Yildiz are reportedly attracting Mikel Arteta’s attention.
Both players have emerged as potential targets as the Gunners consider further changes to their forward line. However, Arsenal may face a battle to prise either youngster away from their current club.
Kroupi is already familiar with the Premier League after making an impressive start to life at Bournemouth. The forward arrived from Lorient and scored 13 goals in 35 appearances across all competitions during his first season in England.
His development was halted by a broken foot in pre-season which required an operation to fix and kept him out of action for around three months.
The 20-year-old has now returned to the Bournemouth squad and has played as a substitute in their last three games. He will be hoping to get more game time as he gets back into full fitness.
Arsenal were linked with a move for Kroupi in the summer. His return to action has reignited interest in the player. A number of other European clubs also understood to be watching his situation.
Kroupi could be difficult to prise away from Bournemouth
Kroupi has attracted interest from a variety of top clubs including Manchester United, Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
The French Under-21 international has impressed with his goal scoring in his first campaign in England. At only 20 years old, he has plenty of development to do under an experienced manager like Arteta.
However, Bournemouth are said to be reluctant to let Kroupi leave in January. Selling a bright young forward would leave Marco Rose with a tough decision to make.
It could get even more complicated if Alex Scott is also being seriously pursued. Chelsea and Liverpool are both linked with the midfielder.
Arsenal may therefore struggle to convince the Cherries to part with Kroupi during the winter window.
Juventus stance could determine Yildiz’s future
Another exciting option for Arsenal comes in the form of Juventus winger Yildiz. The winger has been linked with a move to North London for a number of transfer windows. He has once again been in the news recently at the end of the summer.
However, the Turkish international has struggled to get going on this campaign. He has only featured once in Serie A and has failed to feature since he suffered an injury.
Juventus have previously shown little interest in letting him leave. Head coach Luciano Spalletti firmly dismissed the prospect during the summer. Indicating that even an offer worth €100 million would not change the club’s position.
However, things could change next season. There are reports from Italy that Juventus may have to sell their star player if they fail to make the Champions League.
The Turin-based outfit are currently sitting in seventh spot in Serie A after just 10 games and are six points away from the qualifying spots.
This means that if they don’t make it into Europe, then it could put more pressure on Arsenal’s pursuit of Yildiz. It could create more pressure on them to raise funds.
Arsenal weigh up attacking options for January
Arsenal had a very busy summer with the addition of Bruno Guimaraes, Christos Tzolis, Ezri Konsa, Piero Hincapie and Illan Meslier.
But they also missed out on a few big names, such as Vinicius Jr and Julian Alvarez.
Despite this, there is still interest in Kroupi and Yildiz, suggesting that Arteta is still looking to strengthen his attacking options. Both players would bring quality and potential to the squad; however, there are some issues with both.
There are many unknowns surrounding this situation. Bournemouth aren’t keen to sell Kroupi and Juventus aren’t in a great financial position.
This doesn’t mean that either player will definitely be moving to the Emirates but much will depend on what happens at their clubs in the coming months.
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