Arsenal recently confirmed the signing of Declan Rice from West Ham United but aren’t done in the transfer market if reports are to be believed. Luis F Rojo of Marca says the Gunners have their sights on Joshua Kimmich and could beat Barcelona to his signature as the Spaniards may not be able to afford him.
Arsenal have lost a lot of midfielders in the last two years without fully replacing them – Joe Willock, Mattéo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka, Ainsley Maitland-Niles – so they need more than Rice in the engine room.
Arteta has Thomas Partey, Jorginho, Sambi Lokonga and Mohamed Elneny, but Lokonga is low down the pecking order while Elneny hardly played last season due to injury. Partey is also being strongly linked with a move this summer, so a replacement would be needed.
It’s easy to see why Arsenal would want a player of Kimmich’s ability, but they will have to pay Bayern Munich £52m [€60m] to procure his signature, as per Marca.
Pricey
The 28-year-old’s wages are £333k-per-week at Bayern too, so Barca might be priced out of agreeing a deal. Arsenal have already spent more than £200m on new signings this summer but are still looking to strengthen the squad for their Champions League campaign.
Kimmich joined Bayern from VfB Stuttgart in 2015 and has gone on to make 347 appearances in all competitions, scoring 40 goals with 94 assists. The German international, who has represented his country 79 times, has won eight Bundesliga titles, three German Cups, six German Super Cups and one Champions League.
He’s a highly decorated footballer with lots of experience at the top level, but Kimmich also possesses the attributes Arteta wants from a midfielder. Not only has the 28-year-old had a hand in 11 goals from 33 league games last season, he’s averaging more tackles per game (2.4) and chances per game (2.6) than any Arsenal player.
To sign a player of that calibre for half the price of Rice surely isn’t a bad deal, so time will tell if Arsenal can get this one over the line.
