Liverpool or Chelsea have been tipped as more realistic contenders to seal the transfer of Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic than Arsenal.
That’s the view of former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick, who has spoken exclusively to CaughtOffside about Arsenal’s need for a new signing up front after the sad demise of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Mikel Arteta recently removed the captaincy from Aubameyang, and the Gabon international has also fallen out of favour in the first-team altogether, with a new signing now surely likely to be a priority for the Gunners.
Vlahovic has been in superb form for Fiorentina this season, with the Serbia international admired by Arsenal, as well as other big names, according to a recent report from the Daily Star.
Chadwick, however, thinks it may no longer be realistic for Arsenal to sign Vlahovic given how much his stock has risen.
“It was a massive coup for Arsenal to get Aubameyang when they did, he’s a world class striker who’s done it over the years. It’s such a shame to see him fall down the pecking order, because an in-form Aubameyang in this team, the way they’re playing at the moment, you would say they’d easily be favourites to get that top four position,” Chadwick told CaughtOffside.
“It’s so hard to replace someone like that … Arsenal are not known to spend a lot of money, and in terms of attracting players as well I think they’d have to be offering Champions League football to attract those top-end players. But if you add any top striker to this Arsenal team I think they’d score a lot of goals and enjoy themselves.
“They’ve certainly got the finances to pay £80-odd-million for someone like Vlahovic, but I think that sort of player is probably one they should’ve gone for a few months ago. His stock has grown so much this season and I imagine there’ll be plenty of suitors who are established Champions League clubs who’d get there first.
“Potentially his stock has just grown a bit too much in the last few months, so you’d expect him now to go to a Liverpool, a Chelsea, a Bayern Munich – somewhere where Champions League football is ready for him.”
Vlahovic could undoubtedly also have an important role to play at Liverpool, who must surely be thinking about replacing Roberto Firmino in the near future.
Chelsea, meanwhile, might also be tempted to consider Vlahovic if he becomes available, as they haven’t quite had as much joy from the signing of Romelu Lukaku this season as they might have expected.
In another interview with CaughtOffside, Chadwick named Liverpool and Chelsea as two of the main contenders for this season’s Champions League, so there’s surely little doubt that a talent like Vlahovic would favour them over Arsenal at the moment.