9 months ago
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Arsenal are set to make a move for Athletic Bilbao star Nico Williams and are willing to offload two struggling attackers in a summer shake-up, according to reports.
The Gunners are enjoying another strong campaign and are once again tussling for the Premier League title, though there are 10 top-flight sides who boast a top scorer with more goals than Arsenal’s.
Even the likes of Luton Town (Elijah Adebayo – 9) and Wolves (Hwang Hee-Chan – 10) have players with more goals that Bukayo Saka, who leads Arsenal’s scoring charts with eight goals.
Strikers Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah have nine goals between them, significantly less than the likes of Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah at Arsenal’s primary title rivals, and it is clear that the Gunners need to add more firepower to their ranks.
They were linked with bringing in a new striker in January, though a move for Ivan Toney never got off the ground, but they look set to step up their efforts to add more attacking options in the summer.
According to The Mirror, one of their top priorities will be to bring in a winger to provide cover and competition for Saka and they have set their sights on Athletic’s Nico Williams.
The 21-year-old has been scouted by the north Londoners already this season and is thought to be ahead of Wolves winger Pedro Neto on Arsenal’s wish list.
Mikel Arteta is even prepared to offload two of his own, underperforming attackers in order to bring in the Spaniard, with both Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah on the chopping block.
Nketiah is actually Arsenal’s joint-second top scorer but only has five goals in 21 Premier League outings, while Smith Rowe only has one assist to his name and has only been picked to start twice.
Williams, meanwhile, has six assists and three goals to his name and has delivered a host of man-of-the-match displays this season, while only Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. has completed more successful dribbles in La Liga.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, they are not the only club interested with Real, Liverpool and Aston Villa – who also tried to sign him last summer – also keen.
On top of facing a battle to sign Williams, Athletic – who can only play players from the Basque region – are notoriously difficult to deal with and would likely demand that his release clause is paid.
Williams may not be the only La Liga player on Arsenal’s radar, with Arteta also thought to be a big fan of Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi who could be brought in if Thomas Partey is offloaded.
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