Why Arsenal should steer clear of the highly-talented Karim Adeyemi

According to Transfermarkt (h/t Sun), Arsenal are set to clash with Liverpool in the pursuit of RB Salzburg’s young striker Karim Adeyemi.

Adeyemi began his career with Bayern Munich and Unterhatching in his native Germany before making the switch to Austria with RB Salzburg. Currently, he is with FC Leifering on a two-year loan deal.

Salzburg, who have produced the likes of Sadio Mane and Naby Keita, are currently fighting to keep hold of the 17-year-old Adeyemi.

The German has been impressive this season in Austria’s second-tier, having scored 7 goals and assisted 4 in 12 league games. He is a key member of Bo Svensson’s squad.

His performances have caught the eyes of many other top European clubs like Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund. It is claimed that Barcelona made a move for the youngster, but failed in their £13m bid while German outfit Dortmund have identified him as a replacement for Jadon Sancho.

Adeyemi has finished his time in Germany’s U-17 squad and is set to make his debut for the nation’s U-18 team soon. The centre-forward is also capable of exhibiting his potential as a right-winger.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have seen as a slight slump in their performances under Unai Emery this term. The under-fire manager has a lot of changes to make in the first-team, including their formation and game plan if they are to fix a spot in next year’s Champions League.

The Gunners already have two established strikers in Aubameyang and Lacazette. With Gabriel Martinelli’s arrival in the summer, they already have a decent back-up. Right-winger Nicolas Pepe is yet to make an impact but has been getting his chances. They also have several options in their attack.

Bringing Adeyemi at this point may not be wise as he has just begun his career. The Premier League conditions might be too hard for the teenager and later, it would become a problem for the manager.

 At Arsenal, Adeyemi would not even get to start from the bench due to surplus attacking options. He is yet to develop into a proper striker and going back to Salzburg after his loan spell would do well for him.

At this point, Adeyemi should be starting every game to steadily develop himself and in North London, it would never be possible to get game time. The Gunners currently need a big-game player to change their fortunes and Adeyemi is not up to the required level at this age.

Read more

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• Why Arsenal signing Pau Torres would be a perfect move

Verdict

Though Adeyemi might be a future prospect, it would be better if Arsenal keep their eyes off him and instead look to clear the present situation by bringing defensive reinforcements when January arrives.