Arsenal’s head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat, is following five players in particular ahead of the January transfer window, according to a report.
Sport Bild relay rumours from the English media that Mislintat has five players on his list ahead of the January transfer window and next summer. Let’s have a look at all five:
Mario Hermoso
- Age: 23
- Position: Centre-back
- Contract until: 2020
- Club: Real Betis
- Estimated transfer value: £18m
Recent reports from Spain suggest Arsenal are considering paying the €40m release clause for Espanyol defender Mario Hermoso in January.
Hermoso joined Espanyol from Real Madrid in 2017, having never appeared for Madrid’s first team after coming through their academy. Since then, the 23-year-old has made a name for himself in La Liga, to the point that he’s just received his first call-up for the Spanish national team.
Suddenly, there are rumours that Real Madrid want to activate their buy-back clause of €7.5m. However, Arsenal are also very interested, according to a report from Marca.
Hermoso has played every minute of Espanyol’s league campaign so far, scoring a couple of goals and helping them keep five clean sheets in their run up to fifth in the table (above Real Madrid).
It’s no surprise the big clubs are starting to take an interest, and that interest will only increase if the Spaniard makes his international debut over the break.
Click ‘Next’ for the next name reportedly on Sven Mislintat’s shortlist
Emerson
- Age: 19
- Position: Right-back
- Contract until: Unknown
- Club: Atletico MG
- Estimated transfer value: £45k
Arsenal, Benfica and PSG have all made their interest in Atletico Mineiro right-back Emerson known recently, as he has a breakthrough individual season in Brazilian football.
Emerson only moved to Atletico Mineiro back in April, having managed a couple of first-team appearances for Ponte Preta in 2017. He’s played much more regularly since then though, starting 19 games for his new club and even scoring his first goal for the club back in late September.
A Bola Brasil write that Arsenal are one of three European clubs to take notice of the defender’s progress. The Gunners have ‘shown interest’ in signing the youngster, whose club progress even saw him called up for the Brazilian u20 team on multiple occasions this year.
WhoScored list the player’s aerial duels and concentration as his strengths, whilst he is weaker at holding on to the ball, which is fairly common for young players. He likes to play short passes and isn’t afraid to get stuck in, or foul if he thinks it’s necessary.
Arsenal may feel that signing a right-back is starting to become a priority. Stephan Lichtsteiner only signed a year-long deal with the Gunners, and he’s had a mixed start to life in the team, most recently picking up an injury against Sporting CP.
At 34 years old, the Swiss international isn’t a long-term solution in the position. Planning ahead by bringing in a teenager to play back-up to Lichtsteiner and Hector Bellerin wouldn’t be the worst idea.
Click ‘Next’ for the next name reportedly on Sven Mislintat’s shortlist
Nicolas Pepe
- Age: 23
- Position: Right Winger
- Contract until: 2022
- Club: LOSC Lille
- Estimated transfer value: £22.5m
The media have linked Pepe to Arsenal pretty heavily in recent weeks and months. Those links have only got stronger since the season got underway, with the winger scoring eight goals, providing six assists and winning multiple penalties for his side as well, in 14 appearances so far.
With Danny Welbeck’s injury, Arsenal are reportedly being forced to ‘rethink’ their January transfer plans, and they could move for Pepe sooner rather than later. The player himself recently admitted it was ‘good’ to be linked to the likes of the Gunners, Bayern and Dortmund.
The spanner in the works is that Pepe’s incredible start to the season has made his club very hesitant to sell. Lille president Gerard Lopez and vice-president Marc Ingla have both spoken publicly to say that, in principle, they don’t want to sell before the summer.
We’ll see if Arsenal can change their minds, otherwise, this one might have to wait.
Click ‘Next’ for the next name reportedly on Sven Mislintat’s shortlist
Ousmane Dembele
- Age: 21
- Position: Left Winger
- Contract until: 2022
- Club: FC Barcelona
- Estimated transfer value: £72m
Dembele links to Arsenal are certainly nothing new, and they’ve only increased in regularity since Sven Mislintat, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Sokratis Papastathopoulos all made their way from Dortmund to Arsenal (via Manchester United in Mkhitaryan’s case).
Mislintat clearly believes in the players he scouted for Dortmund, and in Dembele’s case it’s not hard to see why. The French youngster is clearly a massive talent, but he’s been having off-field problems with his current club all year.
Catalan radio station RAC1 claimed over the summer that Arsenal offered €10m to Barcelona as a loan fee for the year, plus another €90m to make the transfer permanent at the end of the season.
However, Barcelona reportedly didn’t even pass the offer onto Dembele for consideration, as they didn’t believe he had any interest in leaving the club anyway.
Plus, the rumours went in direct contradiction with deadline day claims made by the BBC’s generally reliable David Ornstein. He wrote on Twitter that all reports of an Arsenal bid for Dembele were false, and despite links to the player, a move was never realistic for the Gunners.
Perhaps that will change in the upcoming windows, and those links will resurface.
Click ‘Next’ for the final name reportedly on Sven Mislintat’s shortlist
Vilius Piliukaitis
- Age: 17
- Position: Midfielder
- Contract until: On Loan – Option to Buy
- Club: Blackburn Rovers
Piliukaitis certainly isn’t a household name just yet, but he’s made a fantastic start to life in England and reportedly caught the eyes of a number of top Premier League clubs, including Arsenal.
The 17-year-old joined Blackburn from the Lithuanian National Football Academy on loan with an option to buy, but Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea are now all in for the youngster, according to reports.
It’s no wonder, considering the youngster has three goals and two assists in his first four appearances in the u18 Premier League. Most recently he scored a brace and assisted one in a 4-1 win over West Bromwich Albion.
The Lithuanian youngster certainly wouldn’t be an instant addition to the Arsenal first team, but it seems he’s caught Sven Mislintat’s eye and could link up with the talented members of the Gunners’ academy before long. We’ll see.