Gunners Eye Bargain Move For French Attacker

As we approach the opening of the summer window clubs will be intensifying their efforts in the transfer market so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Gunner333 brings us his thoughts on reports Arsenal are interested in Antoine Griezmann.

With the lack of depth upfront a real cause for concern at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger is turning his attention to a number of Europe’s elite forward’s this summer, the latest being that of Antoine Griezmann of Real Sociedad, according to The Express.

The paper claims that the mischievous move involves an initial activation of the Spanish side’s other key forward Carlos Vela, who currently has a £3-million buy-back clause in his contract accessible by the North-London club. Vela was originally a flourishing talent at the Emirates before making the move to Erreala, after various loan moves, in 2012.

The story continues to state that once the clause is activated, it would see the Gunners offer the newly-signed Vela to Sociedad as part of a make-weight deal for young-French forward Antoine Griezmann. A masterful plan which, if unsuccessful, would still see Arsenal secure the services of Griezmann for a bargain price in the region of £18m.

Both forwards would provide prudent threat in the final third, with Vela’a prowess evident from his 30 La Liga goals in his Sociedad career, whilst team-mate Griezmann has been equally as impressive, netting 46 since his promotion to the first-team.

There’s little doubt that using Vela to land Griezmann on the cheap would be a much more productive piece of business than splashing out big bucks on other rumoured targets such as Mario Mandzukic or Karim Benzema, who would almost certainly warrant a hefty price-tag.

Arsene recently confirmed his interest in the French international forward, saying:

“We are following him [Griezmann] in great detail.”

“He attracts other clubs as well but we follow him, he is a known commodity.” Wenger is quoted as saying by the Express.

Although Wenger’s thoughts don’t provide conclusive proof of a deal, his claims of other club’s interested were equitable, with Paris St-Germain rumoured to want the 23-year-old to return to his homeland to partner the likes of Edinson Cavani in the attacking third.

The newspaper report suggests Griezmann favours a move to the French champions over the likes of Arsenal but there looks a great amount of promise in Arsenal’s unique approach to the transfer. One side of the argument would say that should the buy-back clause be successful,  then it would be a difficult swap for Sociedad to turn down, with it being a trade that would guarantee one of their clinical finishers would remain at the club for at least another season.

However, there is the distinct possibility that Sociedad may opt to simply sell Griezmann to the highest bidder and call Arsenal’s bluff over Vela, now they know that Wenger doesn’t really see the Mexican as anything other more than a bargaining chip.

We’ll have to see what happens but it would be a shrewd piece of business if Arsene can pull it off, as Griezmann would be a great signing who’ll add pace and power to our attacking options next season.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news

Thank you for reading. What do you think about the potential signing of Griezmann? Feel free to comment below.