Arsenal are stepping up their search for a new left winger, with Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers emerging as one of their main targets this summer.
According to Sky Sports, Arsenal are increasing their interest in the England international as Mikel Arteta looks to add more power, pace and unpredictability to his attack.
The Gunners want another wide forward who can compete immediately, especially with several attacking players facing uncertain futures at the Emirates.
Villa’s qualification for the Champions League is not expected to completely close the door on a sale.
Sky Sports reports that the Midlands club would still listen to offers in the region of £80m, despite Rogers signing a long-term contract until 2031.
Competition could complicate deal
Arsenal are not alone in the race. Chelsea and Manchester United are also interested, which means Villa can afford to stay firm on price.
For Arsenal, that creates a difficult question: do they spend heavily on a Premier League-proven attacker, or look for better value elsewhere?
Rogers would be a strong signing. He can play from the left, operate centrally, carry the ball through pressure and give Arsenal a different type of attacking threat.
But £80m is a serious investment, especially when the club are also working on other areas of the squad.
Cheaper option also being explored
Independently of the Rogers situation, Arsenal have also looked into a move for Club Brugge winger Christos Tzolis.
Yahoo Sports reports that the Greece international could be available for around €40m, roughly £34m.
That makes him a very different kind of option. Tzolis would be cheaper, slightly less proven in the Premier League, but still productive and full of confidence after an excellent spell in Belgium.
Arsenal’s left-wing plan looks flexible. Rogers is the ambitious statement signing, while Tzolis could be the smarter value play.
The decision may come down to how much Arteta wants proven Premier League quality.
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Ahad,
I think you got the situation spot on with Rogers value and Tzolis. Their is however another 5 players that could play that position that Arsenal could afford if brave enough and they wanted a change to the premier League champions, and those players are:
To be inclusive of Rogers or affordable Tzolis that are versatile and can also play at left wing.
Barcola, Kvaratskhelia, Rodrigo, Vinicius junior, Aleksey Batrkov, kroupi.
Kroupi reminds me of Henry, the way he drifts in from the left and opens his body up for the shot. So I believe he could start his career as a left winger like Henry did.
The opposite is that of Barcola, I think he is on the verge of becoming a striker and although a left winger he is almost their due to his high quality Finnishing and timed runs.
Aleksey Batrkov is a versatile forward and like both Kvaratskhelia, Rodrigo, can play any forward position, the Russian PSG target has unbelievable STATs and YouTube footage, which at just £30 million is PSGs main transfer target this summer, so Arsenal needs to move quick for that affordable versitle gem.
The others are dreams but technically affordable with Arsenals war chest, but it also depends on the players, if they are happy with the move, but I can not see it happening, but wishful thinking.