Importance Score: 72 / 100 🔴
A statement signing, or a familiar script to fill Arsenal fans with a deflating sense of inevitability? Real Madrid have paved the way for the Gunners to pull off a huge coup this summer by agreeing to put a valuation on their Brazilian star Rodrygo.
Having previously been defiant in their refusal to negotiate any transfer, the La Liga giants have now reportedly conceded that a £76 bid would be accepted. Their revamped stance has opened the door for Mikel Arteta and co, and heightened the prospect of one of the world’s most dazzling forwards coming to the Premier League. The development would be seismic, and yet, potentially fatal to Arteta’s hopes of finally landing the title he craves.
Rodrygo would bring flair, creativity, and threat to a side that, ironically, already carries ample flair, creativity, and threat. What the squad does not boast, however, is the clinical goalscorer needed for any serious title at domestic or European glory.
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For a winger, the record of the 24-year-old at Real is not to be sniffed at. Since joining from Santos in 2019, he’s scored 68 times in 268 appearances, and has struck seven goals in 33 games for Brazil.
He would add quality to Arsenal; few can doubt that. But the gaping flaw in the club’s ambitions to finally land another Premier League title, or even a maiden European crown, still remains unsolved.
The fee, let alone the star’s wage demands, with his current salary exceeding £200,00-a-week, would use up a sizable portion of Arsenal’s summer budget. Add to that the imminent £51 deal for Martin Zubimendi, and signing a top-level striker becomes almost inconceivable without mass money sales from within.
Thus far, rumours about bringing Viktor Gyokeres or Benjamin Sesko have remained just that. If Arteta were to bring in Rodrygo and rely on Kai Havertz or Gabriel Jesus to play the No.9 role prolifically next season, then the term negligence would signify a ludicrous understatement.
Opposition full-backs may shudder at the prospect of Rodrygo running at them next season if he does indeed become the club’s marquee signing this summer. Meanwhile, title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City may just snigger discreetly.
As for Arsenal fans, come May? The potential to look at each other forlornly on the final Sunday of the season amid mutterings about Arterta, and their side, of ‘We’ve blown it again’.