Emirates Stadium target offered glowing praise by Spanish national team number two.
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Arsenal are reportedly keen on landing Barcleona youngster Munir El Haddadi who has been dubbed the ‘Next Raul’ by Spanish national team assistant Toni Grade.
The Daily Express claims that the teenage Nou Camp star is on the Emirates Stadium side’s radar and his value will only rise following his surprise call-up to the Spanish national team set-up for their opening Euro 2016 qualifier against Macedonia earlier this week.
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Haddadi made his debut for Spain as a late sub during their 5-1 win over Macedonia which followed his debut goal for Barcelona on the opening weekend of the La Liga season and Grande has been full of praise for the 19 year old, stating;
“Munir reminds me of Raul at the beginning of his career. He has similar characteristics…and look how far Raul went!” he said.
Grande is however keen to not excessively play up the starlet’s talents by adding;
“He has some very good features in his game but still has to show much more. With cases like Munir you need to be careful because of his age, but in this case the people who surround him, such as family and friends, are more important than the national team.
“The first time I saw him live was this summer when he was playing for Barca in pre-season, although [Under-21 boss] Albert Celades had spoken very highly of him, so we knew what he was about.
“With Munir we will make him aware of the difficulties of the challenge he faces. He has a great future, but it all depends on hard work.”
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is well versed in the art of luring Barcelona talents to the Emirates Stadium, having brought in the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Hector Bellerin and Jon Toral in the past, but one imagines a move to snap up Haddadi would prove tough to say the least.
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