Arsenal interested in signing £4.4m teenage midfielder from Danish club: report
|Arsenal are understood to hold an interest in signing teenage midfielder Anis Ben Slimane from Danish club Brondby.
The current season has been halted due to the untimely outbreak of the COVID-19 virus and it is unclear whether the campaign will resume anytime soon.
The FA have suspended all professional football in England until April 30 but Football.London has recently claimed that the season may not resume until July, where the games could be played behind closed doors.
Amidst this, there has been plenty of transfer speculation through the media and Danish outlet BT (h/t Sport Witness) claims that the Gunners are looking into a possible deal for Slimane.
It is added that Brondby could be compelled to sanction the player’s sale for around £4.4m (€5m) amid the financial concerns arising from the ongoing shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Slimane only made his first-team debut for Brondby earlier this year and he has managed to register one goal and one assist from four appearances while operating from a central midfield or defensive midfield position.
As per Transfermarkt, the 19-year-old has also played as an attacking midfielder in his youth career and his versatility may have attracted Mikel Arteta’s interest, given he prefers to work with players, who can slot into different roles.
The Gunners are set to lose the services of midfielder Daniel Ceballos when his loan contract from Real Madrid expires at the end of the season and it is unclear whether the club will seek to re-sign him on a permanent deal.
Hence, a replacement remains a necessity for the next campaign and the club have recently been credited with an interest in Valencia’s Carlos Soler, who is rated highly by Arteta.
Meanwhile, Slimane remains a relatively unknown talent at present but the Gunners could reap rewards from his signature, if he is able to make a similar impression to Gabriel Martinelli and Matteo Guendouzi, who have emerged as surprise signings in the previous two summer transfer windows.