Can Arsenal really hijack this £10m Liverpool deal?

It’s been sad to see Xherdan Shaqiri’s career progression slow to a crawl since he moved to Bayern Munich. during his time at FC Basel, the Swiss ace proved over and over again that he was going to blossom into one hell of a talent. He has all the qualities necessary to make it big. He just needs to be fully backed by his manager.

Whilst he was at Basel, he made at least 40 appearances each season. This hasn’t happened since he moved to the Allianz Arena. In his first season, he made 39 appearances. In his second season, he made 26 appearances (ouch!). This year, he’s got 15 appearances to his name. A significant portion of these appearances were as a substitute. He’s not a nailed on starter, but any means.

I appreciate that he’s only 23-years-old and that he’s got a long career ahead of him, but these should be his formative years. He should be looking to get as many games behind him as possible, to earn experience and to learn his trade. He has great players around him at Bayern, but he’s going to need more than this if he’s to unlock his full potential.

The player himself can’t be completely satisfied with his situation. This must be why he keeps getting linked with a move to Liverpool.

This brings me to The Metro‘s claim that Shaqiri has been told he’s allowed to leave Bayern Munich during the January transfer market. The source also suggests that Arsenal are interested and may be prepared to let Lukas Podolski and Joel Campbell leave in order to facilitate the move.

I have to say, this would be a significant step up in class for The Gunners. Podolski is a great finisher, but he’s not much more than that. Xherdan Shaqiri is the full-package. He’s tricky, he can get in behind, he can open defenses up and on his day, he’s a match winner.

I’d argue that he’s a player that’s worth investing in. The Metro notes that he could cost The Gunners as little as £10m. That strikes me as something of a bargain.

What’s your take? Should The Gunners really be interested in Xherdan Shaqiri?

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