Arsenal
Arsenal Step Up Interest In 22 Goal Hitman – Will Wenger Meet His €38m Buy-Out Fee?
Arsenal have stepped up their interest in a striker who’s scored 22 goals in 21 games this season but will set the club back €38m. Find out who he is here.
With the January transfer window just around the corner, managers will be working hard to identify potential new signings, so we’ll keep you up-to-date with all the latest transfer gossip. Today, Arsenal are linked with Diego Costa.
Arsenal have stepped up their interest in Atletico Madrid goal machine Diego Costa with Arsene Wenger sending scouts to watch the €38m (£32m) rated hitman this week, according to the Daily Mail.
Costa was strongly linked with a move to the Premier League in the summer with the likes of Liverpool showing a keen interest before the player opted to stay at Atletico, where he signed a new long-term contract that runs until 2018.
The Brazilian-born striker has been in sensational form so far this season, scoring an incredible 22 goals in 21 games, including 17 goals in 16 La Liga appearances, to help fire Diego Simeone’s men level on points with Barcelona at the top of the league as well as guide the club to the last 16 of the Champions League.
The Mail claim that Arsenal have now identified the 25-year-old as a potential new signing next month and Arsene Wenger has deployed his scouts to watch the player in action over the next week ahead of a potential January bid.
The Gunners need for an additional striker is clear, with Wenger currently heavily reliant on Olivier Giroud up front and bringing in a player of Costa’s ability would be a major boost to the north Londoners title ambitions.
However, while Wenger is understood to be keen, the newspaper suggests that he is not convinced enough to meet the players €38m (£32m) release clause fee. With Costa now an integral part of the first team, it’s unlikely Atletico will be interested in negotiating a fee below that figure so unless Arsenal are prepared to dig deep it appears a deal is unlikely next month.
Even if the Gunners did trigger his buy-out clause, there is then the question of whether Costa would be willing to switch clubs mid-season, particularly in a World Cup year where he hopes to spearhead the Spain team after controversially switching his allegiance from Brazil.
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Is Costa the striker who could fire Arsenal to the title? Should they meet his £32m buy-out fee? Share your views below.
