According to reports from France, Arsenal are in pursuit of Olympique Lyonnais central midfielder Corentin Tolisso.
- 22-year-old has 14 goals and 6 assists this season
- He is under contract until 2020
- Tolisso said that in England, teams like Arsenal ‘make me dream’
Manchester City, Tottenham and Juventus are also mentioned as interested parties in L’Equipe.
The 22-year-old is one of the top talents in Ligue 1, and his stats for a midfielder are very good.
He as already scored 14 goals and made 6 assists, with an average rating of 7.28 in all competitions.
His main position is central midfield, often being deployed depending on where he’s needed most, so he could be playing as defensive midfielder right in front of the defence, and also as an attacking midfielder behind the striker. The easiest way to describe him would be box-to-box central midfielder.
His main strengths are passing, holding the ball and finishing, but his defensive skills could be kicked up a notch.
While speaking to France Football in October, Tolisso said, “Many clubs make me dream like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and England with teams like Arsenal.
“I love the Premier League and I think I have the profile. This is the championship that also offers more competition, which is the most open, the most contested and most spectacular.”
The young Frenchman could surely bring a lot to Arsenal’s current selection in midfield, with lots of current players not delivering what is expected from them.
Tolisso has the vision to play through the opposition’s defensive line and his through balls are one of his main weapons.
The only question that remains unanswered in this whole story is his valuation by Lyon.
Transfermarkt has him priced at €18m but it is impossible to believe Lyon would let him go for anything less than €25m, probably more, as his contract runs until 2020.