According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal are keen on signing Bournemouth winger Jaidon Anthony.
The Gunners have agreed a deal with Brighton to sign Leandro Trossard worth £21m plus add ons, however, Mikel Arteta is still in the market for further reinforcements this month.
Arsenal’s main priority transfer target was Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhailo Mudryk but the Ukrainian opted to join rivals Chelsea last week. The Gunners have moved swiftly to secure the signing of Trossard but Arteta wants to add at least one more attacker to make-up for the absence of Gabriel Jesus – who is out due to a serious knee injury.
Anthony has now emerged as a potential target with the Daily Mail claiming Arsenal are showing a keen interest in signing the winger. The 23-year-old is a former Arsenal academy player and is expected to leave the Vitality Stadium as he’s in the final year of his contract and is no closer to signing an extension.
Anthony was one of the standout players for Bournemouth last term, helping the Cherries earn promotion to the Premier League. He racked up 48 appearances and made 15 goal contributions in the process.
However, this is season he has struggled for playing time as he’s started just four Premier League games for the South Coast club – who sit 17th in the table. Despite this, Anthony is still Bournemouth’s second top goal-scorer with 3 goals in all competitions.
Competition
Arsenal could be looking at a cut-price deal this month or they may wait to sign the attacker on a free transfer when his contract runs out at the end of the season.
However, the report says they’ll face competition for Anthony’s signature, with a number of clubs to be monitoring the situation including Premier League side Leicester City and Bundesliga clubs Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen.
Mikel Arteta believes that he has the potential to improve as a player due to his age and previous academy experience, having spend 10 years in Arsenal’s academy, playing with the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson.
Since joining Bournemouth in 2016, Anthony has since become a favourite fan at the club. He is currently valued at just £4m by Transfermarkt, so he could be a shrewd addition to Arteta’s squad if the Gunners manage to lure him back to North London.
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