Arsenal journalist Charles Watts has been sharing his thoughts on the possibility of the north London club making a move to sign Olympique Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar during the current summer transfer window.
This comes after Watts recently uploaded a video onto his YouTube channel where he spoke about a variety of subjects concerning Mikel Arteta’s side.
After it was recently reported by ESPN that fellow Premier League clubs Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have joined Arsenal in the race to sign Aouar this summer – with an offer of €25 million (£21.3 million) reported enough to secure him – Watts had this to say about the situation.
He said: “When you look at the money that he could be available for the summer or is available for this summer, it doesn’t surprise me that plenty are looking at him.
“Personally, for me, I think it’s an absolute no-brainer, I think if you’ve got the opportunity to get Houssem Aouar for around £25 million, you just take it because he’s a very, very good footballer, young, still only 23, massive ceiling to improve.
“If you’re Arsenal, he is absolutely going to improve you in terms of your possible goal output from midfield; you can play him as a 10, you can play him as an eight. For me, it’s just an absolute no-brainer and £25 million, or €25 million even, whatever it is – you just get that deal done, you don’t want to get caught napping and let someone else come in and grab him, especially if it’s Tottenham.
“So, it’s going to be interesting to see how things progress with Aouar in the next couple of weeks.”
As a product of Lyon’s youth system, Aouar made his senior debut for the French club back in February 2017 in a Europa League clash against AZ Alkmaar.
Since then, the 23-year-old, who is currently valued at £37.8 million according to Transfermarkt, has made a total of 170 appearances for Lyon across all competitions, in which he has managed to score 32 goals and provide 31 assists along the way.
TIF Thoughts on Charles Watts’ comments on a potential move for Aouar…
Given how Aouar managed to chip in with seven goals and three assists for Lyon in Ligue 1 last season, it’s easy to see why these Premier League clubs are reportedly interested in signing him, especially for the reported fee being touted for him and considering he has had greater seasons in front of goal in the past.
Do you think Arsenal should sign Aouar this summer?
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In our view, with former Arsenal loan star Martin Odegaard seemingly set to stay at Real Madrid this summer, perhaps signing Aouar would be the next best thing if they want to add a midfielder to their squad that can have a similar impact and role in the team.
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