Why Arsenal Should Beat Tottenham And Sign Barkley
Much has been made of the ongoing summer transfer window for clubs in the Premier League. A fair few fans have managed to catch a glimpse of their side’s new recruits in action in pre-season friendlies, while a few others have remained frustrated with the lack of incoming transfer activity, none more than Tottenham Hotspur. But despite their plight thus far, they have been kept on their toes, with media links popping up quicker than ever before and that makes for some interesting reading in the back pages.
One club that has been in the thick of action thus far is Everton. Having made six summer signings, including the purchase of once-teenage phenomenon Wayne Rooney and Michael Keane, their largest stakeholder and Iranian billionaire, Farhad Moshiri, has flexed his financial muscle by addressing several key areas on the pitch for the Merseyside club to improve. Apart from a certain Lukaku, another player who is seemingly on his way out of Goodison Park is England midfielder Ross Barkley.
With the summer net spend well in control following Lukaku’s departure, Everton are eyeing a couple of more players to bolster their squad further. The sale of Barkley, whose career has had an uncertain trajectory, for a handsome fee would be ideal. Tottenham have been in the running for him in recent weeks but it is their north London rivals Arsenal who should be monitoring this situation and swooping to land the 23-year old.
The Gunners are currently in China, preparing to take on Chelsea and Bayern Munich in pre-season friendlies so one would expect Arsene Wenger’s focus to be aligned accordingly. However, there has been much speculation with regard to the future of their talisman Alexis Sanchez.
The Chilean has been linked with a host of top European clubs and despite having ended the 2016-17 season with a victory in the FA Cup final, the club’s absence from the Champions League for the upcoming season has been identified as a potential deal breaker for Sanchez. There is a fair chance that he may leave the Emirates for pastures new, given his ambition and the lack of progress from a title-challenging front over the past three years.
Now Barkley may not immediately spring to one’s mind when replacements for Sanchez are discussed but there are some key statistics about him that make for some impressive reading. Last season, the Englishman raked up average scores in terms of assists and chances created, in the same wavelength as Sanchez and his teammate Mesut Ozil. While he did score fewer goals than the those two individually, Barkley’s link up play with Romelu Lukaku was highly effective and reaped rich dividends.
Why this should offer a whiff of optimism for Arsenal is that their new striker, Alexandre Lacazette could profit from the creativity and in-game dynamism from two attacking midfielders. With Alexis Sanchez’s future in the balance, Barkley, who has time on his side could partner Mesut Ozil and render himself as a vital cog to the Arsenal strike force.
As things stand, Tottenham are the likelier of the two to land the Liverpool born playmaker but in order to deal with a potential departure, Arsenal might want to turn their attention to a footballer whose career could gain more stability with a move away from his current environment and could further harness the team’s quality in the attack. A permanent relocation to London seems imminent. It only remains to be seen whether he goes white or red.