Watford may have beaten Arsenal to Dahlberg’s signature

Watford are reportedly in the final stages of signing IFK Goteborg goalkeeper, Pontus Dahlberg, who Arsenal were linked to in September.

Watford are set to beat Sunderland, Everton and, it seems, Arsenal to the signing of Dahlberg.

According to Expressen, the 19-year-old keeper will sold for a record fee, thought to be between £2.7m and £3.6m.

The Hornets are allegedly looking for 36-year-old Heurelho Gomes’ replacement so could probably offer Dahlberg more first team opportunities than Everton, who splashed out £30m for ex-Sunderland shot-stopper Jordan Pickford over the summer.

Whether Arsenal were ever really interested in the Sweden u21 international is unknown. I do genuinely think the Gunners will be in the market for a goalkeeper soon as 35-year-old Petr Cech is past his best with under two years left on his contract.

David Ospina is, with all due respect, not a good goalkeeper and I imagine the club will probably let him go sooner rather than later. Although, he also only has until 2019 on his current deal.

Therefore, it stands to reason that Arsenal are at least putting their feelers out to see which goalkeepers are available.

However, I’m not sure Dahlberg is the most obvious choice. He’s made 33 appearances for IFK Goteborg’s first team since last season, keeping just five clean sheets and shipping 46.