Arsenal appeared favourites to land Emiliano Buendia this summer and despite offering more money to Norwich City, Aston Villa pipped them to the signing and La Liga expert Euan McTear does not believe that Nabil Fekir would be a suitable alternative as they are very different players.
Liverpool famously came very close to signing Fekir a couple of years ago but it now appears that the Gunners are leading the chase for Real Betis’ talisman, who appears to be playing at a level way below what he is capable of.
Should Arsenal sign Fekir?
Yes!
No!
It will have been a massive kick in the teeth to miss out on Buendia to Villa but making a big name signing like Fekir could be a sensible move to replace Martin Odegaard, with the Gunners also set to miss out on the Norweigan international.
If Mikel Arteta is looking at his shortlist of players to sign now that he has missed out on Buendia, Fekir should not be on that list as he is a totally different player to the Argentine who can play as more of a winger, that’s according to McTear, who explained how they are so different exclusively to This is Futbol:
“From what I’ve read and seen of Emiliano Buendia he seems to be much more of a winger, whereas Fekir plays a lot more centrally unless injuries force him out wide.
“Fekir will always look to cut inside if he is being played out wide as that’s not really his best position so I’m not sure about that comparison.”
It was quite a shock when Fekir decided to leave Lyon for Betis who had no European football, however, he appears to have established himself as one of the best creative attackers in La Liga and at just 27-years old, there is a lot more to come from the Frenchman.
During his two seasons in La Liga, Fekir has managed to register 25 attacking returns with his first season being all about fighting off relegation, whereas last campaign saw him spearhead Betis’ charge for a Europa League spot.