by Lewis Ambrose

Amidst a summer of speculation, Daily Express are now reporting that Spanish club and Europa League winners Sevilla have told clubs that they will have to pay the full release clause of £21.5M for star Carlos Bacca.

The Colombian, who is currently on Copa America duty, has been linked with a whole host of clubs this summer including Arsenal and Premier League rivals Liverpool and Manchester United.

The striker has had a fairly late rise to the top and, at the age of 28, has completed just two seasons in Europe since his move to Sevilla.

It is there that he has become a hero, winning back to back Europa League titles and scoring twice in this season’s final victory against Ukrainian side Dnipro.

Bacca is a strong all-round striker, and clearly has an eye for goal. A decent 21 goals in his first season in Spain was followed by a 28 goal season this time around.

Two of those came in that Europa League final, while 20 were netted in La Liga at a rate of a goal every 127 minutes – certainly not bad for a side that only managed 70 goals in the entire league campaign.

Odd

A move for Bacca would be odd on Arsenal’s part, especially considering his age.

Despite his goalscoring record there are no sure signs that he would be an upgrade on what we already have with Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck already at the club.

The striker may well end up in England but he is already guaranteed Champions League football with Sevilla and could take time to adapt to another new league.