With just a couple weeks remaining in the January transfer window, Arsenal are yet to make their first foray into the market. The Gunners’ desire to land an attacking reinforcement seems to be no secret, which has seen them linked with moves for the likes of Ivan Toney this month, but now they could reportedly turn their attention towards midfield reinforcements.
Arsenal transfer news
The Toney to Arsenal links will likely be at the forefront of the headlines surrounding the London club’s transfer business this month and during the summer if the Brentford star doesn’t get a January move. That said, reports suggest that Arsenal could yet turn to other options to hand Mikel Arteta a major attacking boost ahead of an intense title fight in the second half of the campaign. Reports have even gone as far to say that Arsenal have submitted a £22m bid to sign Getafe striker Borja Mayoral, though the La Liga side aren’t keen to sell their forward.
Meanwhile, the Gunners have also shifted their focus on finding reinforcements in the middle of the park. According to Graeme Bailey for HITC, Arsenal are in pole position to sign Arthur Vermeeren from Royal Antwerp. The midfielder has attracted plenty of interest but is reportedly keen to end his season in Belgium before considering his options in the summer when Arsenal could make their move as they lead currently the race. With Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea also interested in signing the teenager, it could be some coup for the Gunners if they were to secure Vermeeren’s signature.
In what may come as another boost, Steven Defour and Marc Degryse all urged Vermeeren to snub Chelsea in favour of elsewhere. Debating the midfielder’s future, Degryse said:
“What Vermeeren is especially not allowed to do is go to a club like Chelsea or Manchester United, where they buy thirty or forty players and then loan you out. What they do is gamble. You don’t give confidence to a player like that.”
Defour then added to Degryse’s point by saying: “Chelsea is too volatile. Those types of clubs simply put a player worth €30m in the stands.”
“Special” Vermeeren is already outperforming Havertz
At just 18 years old, Vermeeren’s stats have been incredibly impressive at Royal Antwerp this season, with his numbers even outperforming those of Arsenal summer signing Kai Havertz in some areas. Here’s how the duo have compared in the current campaign:
|
Player |
Progressive Carries |
Progressive Passes |
Goals |
Assists |
Key Passes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Arthur Vermeeren |
20 |
142 |
1 |
3 |
23 |
|
Kai Havertz |
19 |
52 |
4 |
1 |
16 |
Among those to be impressed by Vermeeren is Bailey, who praised the midfielder, previously saying on the Talking Transfers podcast: “This guy is special. Antwerp have a little superstar on their hands here in Arthur Vermeeren. He really is, from what I’m being told speaking to scouts, they think he’s special. Our understanding is that Man City, Arsenal and Tottenham have all enquired about him, so have Bayern Munich, Dortmund and Juventus, Barcelona as well who looked in the summer at him.”