Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery has his eyes on one player admired by Mikel Arteta at the Emirates.
Emery unearthed some monstrous talent at Arsenal during his time at the club, including overseeing Bukayo Saka’s graduation from Hale End.
Though the Spaniard left the Emirates and has since gone on to impress at Aston Villa, Emery remains involved in Arsenal’s business as a competitor.
Arsenal tried to sign Ollie Watkins from Emery in the January window but failed, with the Villans certainly outgunning the Gunners in the winter market.
Aston Villa appreciate Arsenal target Arda Guler
While Arteta was left with limited attacking options after the January window, Emery orchestrated the market to Villa’s advantage.
The Midlands club welcomed Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, two players who have since contributed to 11 goals between them.
Emery triumphed as Arsenal wallowed in the winter window, and now, there’s potential for history to repeat itself in the summer.
Aston Villa’s sporting director, Monchi, recently commented about Arda Guler, admitting that the Real Madrid starlet is a player who is ‘attractive’ to the English club.
“I know him well because he’s a player that every sporting director has followed in his career in Turkey,” Monchi told Marca.
“He’s a player who met a number of requirements and could be attractive to Aston Villa because we were looking for that position. It’s not the same position as Marco Asensio, but we’re more or less looking for that profile between the lines who can play as a 10 and who can even play on the outside while coming in.”
Guler is a target of Arsenal and has been on Arteta’s watchlist as he continues to search for game time at Real Madrid.
Though Guler wants to fight for a place at Real Madrid, there’s no guarantee of his future, with Arsenal and now Villa keeping an eye on his services.
Unai Emery is showing Mikel Arteta how it’s done in the transfer window
Monchi has faith that a player like Guler could thrive under Emery’s guidance, just as Asensio and Rashford have.
“Unai is a coach who has historically helped players grow. There are players like Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio who have grown since Unai’s arrival,” he said.
Given that Arsenal were interested in Rashford and had previously been linked to Asensio, Emery did the double over his former club in the winter window.
The same can’t happen again, not out of pride but out of the realisation that rival clubs are benefitting while Arsenal struggle to locate solutions to their problems.
Fortunately, it’s expected that the summer transfer window will be different, with Guler one player targeted at the Emirates.
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