Arsenal are ahead of European giants in transfer race for ‘unstoppable’ winger – Mikel Arteta is desperate to sign him

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Arsenal are making plans to strengthen Mikel Arteta’s forward options in the summer transfer window.

The Gunners are in desperate need of offensive reinforcements, with the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard flattering to deceive this season.

Alexander Isak is Arteta’s dream signing, while the likes of Matheus Cunha, Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres have also been linked.

However, alongside a striker, a wide man is needed to bolster the Arsenal squad, and one primary target appears to have been established in this position.

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Arsenal are ahead of Bayern Munich in Nico Williams race

Arsenal have had their list of priority targets in place well before the summer window has commenced in recent years, and despite the sporting director changing this campaign, this forward-thinking strategy looks to be no different this time around.

Nico Williams has long been linked with Arsenal, with the Spaniard the only winger consistently mentioned as being on the North London club’s agenda.

The Athletic club man is enduring something of a down year in La Liga, scoring just four goals and providing five assists in 24 appearances.

However, Arteta is insistent on Arsenal signing Williams, and reports suggest that they’ll be aggressively pursuing the player in the summer.

Bayern Munich are also said to be interested in the wide forward, although journalist Christian Falk (via the Daily Briefing) claims that Arsenal are ahead of the German outfit in the race to land the youngster.

Falk suggests that Bayern would have to sell multiple players before attempting to acquire Williams, with Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane all potentially on the chopping block.

Coman has interest from Newcastle and Tottenham, while Gnabry has no known suitors and Sane’s contract expires this summer.

The Bundesliga club will negotiate with Sane over a new deal, but if they’re unable to shift at least one of the other two wingers then the German may be left to his own devices.

Arsenal have much less uncertainty in Arteta’s ensemble and will be freely able to activate Williams’ £48 million release clause if they want to, giving them the upper hand in the saga.

Is Nico Williams the right signing for Arsenal?

Certainly a chaotic player, Williams has been described as ‘unstoppable’ by Spanish media in the past.

The 22-year-old demonstrated his talent at the Euros last summer, but has struggled to follow that up with a productive campaign at club level.

A willing and successful high-volume dribbler, Williams is exceptional at getting past his man but he struggles to convert this into providing real value for the teams he plays in.

Not producing impressive underlying numbers on the creative front or the goal-scoring front, his raw talent in terms of dribbling is exciting, but he’d need significant nurturing to turn this into being a productive player in an Arteta team.

While there’s a lot to work with, a player of this profile at this age tends to have a huge range regarding what they ultimately develop into, making the signing a significant risk for Arsenal.