With Arsenal and Crystal Palace still a long way apart in their respective valuations of Wilfried Zaha, let’s have a look at the five alternatives linked with a move.
According to reports, Arsenal’s opening bid for Zaha was £40m, but Palace want closer to £80m. It’s hard to see them reaching a compromise at this stage, but Football.London claim there are five other options on the table for the Gunners.
Ryan Fraser
- Current Club: AFC Bournemouth
- Contract Until: 2020
- Age: 25
- 2018/19: 42 appearances, eight goals, 15 assists
Most Arsenal fans will be aware of the transfer links to Fraser by now. At the start of the summer, it was the main story hogging the headlines, but the hype died down when it became clear how much Bournemouth wanted for the winger (around £30m).
For a player with a year left on his contract, who is refusing to sign an extension, that seems ridiculous. Arsenal would be willing to do a deal for around £20m though.
Malcom
- Current Club: FC Barcelona
- Contract Until: 2023
- Age: 22
- 2018/19: 24 appearances, four goals, two assists
Malcom is another who has been linked with Arsenal for quite a while now, since before he even joined Barcelona.
After his first year in Spain, Malcom has been understandably disappointed with how little he’s been involved. Though 24 appearances doesn’t sound terrible, he’s averaging less than 45 minutes per appearance and has only made six La Liga/CL starts.
A loan deal for the winger is considered a ‘fall-back option’, according to Football.London. Barcelona would likely only be willing to do business if Arsenal put a mandatory purchase clause in Malcom’s contract, the way they avoided doing with Denis Suarez.
Yannick Carrasco
- Current Club: Dalian Yifang
- Contract Until: 2022
- Age: 25
- 2019: 12 appearances, nine goals, five assists
Carrasco is another who was much heavily linked earlier in the window, and he currently seems resigned to staying in China. Arsenal reportedly only made basic enquiries after the player, and he’s not a serious target as things stand.
For what it’s worth, Carrasco is in excellent form for Dalian, scoring or assisting in every game he’s played for them since mid-April. Most Arsenal fans probably don’t care about Chinese Super League performances though.
Yacine Brahimi
- Current Club: Free Agent
- Contract Until: N/A
- Age: 29
- 2018/19: 49 appearances, 13 goals, nine assists
Brahimi is another ‘fall-back option’, along with Malcom. The 29-year-old is available on a free transfer after coming to the end of his contract with FC Porto, though reports suggest he wants a £3m signing-on free.
The winger is a very strong dribbler and he’s managed more than 20 goal contributions in the last couple of seasons, but at his age, it’s hard to know if he’ll adapt quickly enough from Portugal to England.
Lucas Vazquez
- Current Club: Real Madrid
- Contract Until: 2021
- Age: 28
- 2018/19: 47 appearances, five goals, four assists
Football.London claim Vazquez is another Arsenal have made initial enquiries over without following up in any serious manner. Other reports have suggested the Gunners aren’t interested at all, and it’s all just agent talk to raise his market value.
It would be understandable if the player wanted to leave, given only 62% of his appearances were in the starting lineup this season. That’s being generous and including his seven out of seven starts in the Copa Del Rey.