Villarreal’s Alex Baena has caught the eye of Arsenal and Liverpool after an impressive start in the current campaign
According to Spanish news outlet Sport, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea are all interested in signing 21-year-old winger Alex Baena.
The Spanish youngster has already accrued eight goal contributions for Unai Emery’s side in 10 appearances in all competitions, and that is something which has alerted several top English clubs.
After coming through the ranks of The Yellow Submarine, the exciting forward was loaned out to La Liga 2 side Girona last season, where he recorded five goals and seven assists.
Baena signed a long-term contract at Estadio de la Cerámica in the year 2020, which will run until the summer of 2025, In the contract, there is a termination clause of £31.5m [€35m], according to Sport, which won’t be considered as something insurmountable by the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool.
Gunners need winger
Arsenal have looked at several wingers in the past few months, in the hope to add more squad depth. Having just two natural wingers in Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, is clearly not ideal, when the club has ambitions of claiming a top four spot in the league.
Baena has emerged as a target but it will be intriguing to see whether Arsenal make a move for him or his teammate Yeremy Pino, who has also been linked to a move to the Emirates Stadium in recent months.
However, Arsenal will face stiff competition for Baena’s signature if they formalise their interest in the upcoming windows with Liverpool among those also keeping a close eye on the attacker.
Jurgen Klopp’s side that endured a disappointing start to the new season and have been surprisingly poor going forward, so Liverpool may look to further strengthen their ranks with Baena’s seemingly on their radar.
Chelsea and Manchester City are also tracking the Spaniard so we could see four of England’s most powerful clubs doing battle for Baena if he leaves Villarreal either in the winter or next summer.
