Mesut Özil is being linked for an Arsenal exit after his absence in Sunday’s North London derby, but are the stories reliable, and who could Unai Emery sign to replace him if so?
2Isco
- Age: 26
- Position: Attacking Midfield
- Club: Real Madrid
- Contract until: 2022
- Estimated market value: £81m
Arsenal are reportedly watching the situation of Real Madrid playmaker Isco, as the 26-year-old struggles to start under new boss Santiago Solari.
Since Solari took over as manager of the La Liga side, Isco has found himself on the bench or out of the squad completely on every occasion. In over a month of matches, Isco has made four substitute appearances, one squad appearance and had two complete absences.
It’s not as if Real are particularly suffering without him either. After a poor start to the season, they’ve won six of those last seven matches. As a result, the rumours of an Isco exit are starting to return.
The Daily Mail write that Arsenal are ‘watching the situation’, and they list the club as one of three Premier League sides the midfielder could end up joining. The other two are Chelsea and Manchester City, so it’s fair to say there’s competition.
The Mail also go on to point out that although Isco has played under Emery before, at Valencia, the two didn’t necessarily always see eye-to-eye. The Real Madrid man felt he deserved more first-team game time, after making most of his appearances for the Valencia B team in 2009/10 and 2010/11. He then left for Malaga in 2011.
Nonetheless, Emery did give the playmaker his senior debut, so there are positives and negatives to the story. Perhaps the Arsenal head coach could rekindle the relationship now that Isco is an established player.
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