According to journalist Ryan Taylor, Arsenal are still looking to sign Leeds United star man Raphinha and they need to start stacking their attacking options this summer like Liverpool and Manchester City.
The North London club recently announced the signing of Porto midfielder Fabio Vieira, and despite wanting to sign Gabriel Jesus and Youri Tielemans, they also have Leeds’ star winger Raphinha in their sights this summer.
According to Taylor, while the more important signings are Jesus and Tielemans, he believes Arsenal will make a move for the Brazilian this summer despite him playing in the same position as their star player Bukayo Saka.
He said on his YouTube channel, “Raphinha is a player that is of strong interest to Arsenal the only fact with that is that he plays in the same position as Bukayo Saka who is of huge importance to Mikel Arteta. Arsenal do need to kind of do a Liverpool and City as such and stack their options now.
“Raphinha is definitely one they are working on but not as much as [Youri] Tielemans and Gabriel Jesus.” (20:41)
TIF Thoughts on Taylor’s comments…
Interestingly, Raphinha has already shared private jets and changing rooms with potential new Arsenal signing Gabriel Jesus, due to their international allegiance to Brazil.
Arsenal needs to strengthen their squad after they failed to secure Champions League football last season, losing out to bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the process. They have done well so far with Vieria and the links to Jesus and Tielemans, but adding a player of Raphinha’s talent would certainly make them strong contenders for the top four next season.
Taylor is correct that Arsenal needs to start bolstering their attacking options like the two best teams in the Premier League. They currently only have Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Emile Smith-Rowe, and Pepe who can play out on the wings, adding Raphinha will give Arteta a problem with who to pick, but it is a good problem to have.
Only Saka and Smith-Rowe bagged more than Raphinha’s 11 goals in all competing last season and considering Smith-Rowe is seen as a bench option under Arteta, it is not hard to see Raphinha slipping into the opposite wing to Saka as a starter.
Should Arsenal sign Raphinha?Yes
No
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