Journalist Fabrizio Romano has provided an update on Arsenal’s pursuit of Norwich City’s Emiliano Buendía.
The Argentinian, who the Canaries have reportedly put a £40m price tag on, blew away the competition in the Championship this season, scoring 15 goals and providing 17 assists as Norwich stormed to the title, picking up Championship Player of the Year along the way.
The Gunners were reportedly interested in signing him during the January transfer window, but were met with a very firm ‘no’ from Daniel Farke’s men, but that hasn’t deterred them from trying again this summer.
Speaking on the Here We Go podcast, Romano appeared to confirm both stories surrounding Buendía, going so far as to claim that the Gunners were even some way down the line into making the deal a reality and that the club have other names on their mind:
“Emi Buendía is one of the targets, so we can say that he’s on the list for Arsenal, it’s not like a done deal or something like this, but last contact between Arsenal and his agent were like in December.
“Now they have reopened talks with the agents of Buendía. So he’s one of the options for Arsenal and let’s see what happens in the next weeks for Emi Buendía, who is a target for Arsenal, but it’s part of the list so it’s not like the only name.”
TIF Thoughts on Fabrizio Romano’s comments about Emi Buendía and Arsenal…
Do you want to see Arsenal sign Buendia?
No, he isn't good enough
Yes, he could be what we need
It seems as though Arsenal are confident that they can make a deal happen with Buendía if they are in negotiations with his agent over a move, and if they can meet Norwich’s demands, then that should put them in the driver’s seat.
The only question then becomes just how much they are having to give up to make a deal happen. There are already plans for a major ‘firesale’ at the club in order to fund the transfer window, probably not helped by the lack of European football next season and the funds that would bring in.
And then you have to wonder how many players is it worth getting rid of just to bring in one person in return?
In other news: ‘From what I understand’ – Charles Watts reveals intriguing Arsenal transfer news