Can Arsenal cherry pick some of the best talent in Spain? by KJ
Today, there has been a plethora of rumours that the manager of Athletic Bilbao, Marcelo Bielsa has officially resigned. You may think that this doesn’t have any implications for Arsenal but I assure you – it does.
It is common knowledge that Wenger has told his wide range of Spanish scouts to mainly focus their scouting reports on Athletic Bilbao. The reasoning behind this is pretty simple; they have some of the best young talent in Spain that could become world class if nurtured by the genius that is Arsene Wenger.
There are 4 players that I think Arsenal should definitely look into as the departure of Bielsa can only mean that it will be easier to tempt players away from Bilbao.
Javier Martinez: He is arguably the biggest talent that Bilbao has to offer and could potentially be one of Spain’s biggest players in years to come. He operates mainly a defensive midfielder but has been primarily used this season as a centre back. As a centre back, he has been Godly this season and has easily been one of the best in the world at that position. That’s how good of a season he has had. He is also only 23. That is extremely young for a player that is already in my opinion a world class player. He will only get player and could truly lay stake as the best midfielder in the world soon enough.
The only problem is that he’ll easily fetch £30 million in today’s market and even then, that’s a bargain. I just don’t see us having the financial outlay to pay that much for one player (even though he can play 2 positions on the pitch competently).
Fernando Llorente: He is one of the more experienced players in Athletic’s squad but still is only 27. He is also another product of their impressive youth recruitment in the Basque region. He is a big striker towering in at 6ft 5 but is much more than a target man. Like most Spanish players, he is extremely good with the ball at his feet. His dribbling is close, his passing is precise and his shooting is immaculate. He managed to score an impressive 30 goals last season making him one of the most prolific in La Liga.
Again a similar problem arises with his price. He could cost up to £25 million for the Gunners and this could be a steep price to pay for a player who by in large, seems quite similar to the recently acquired Giroud. However, with the imminent departure of Van Persie on the cards, it could also become a likely eventuality that the money made from the Dutchman is immediately invested in this versatile Spaniard.
Iker Muniain: Another amazing talent who is seen as the natural successor to Iniesta in the Spanish National team. That’s how highly rated he is in Spain and rightly so. He is mainly deployed as a left winger and has only scored a meagre 2 goals and made 3 assists. However, we must remember that he’s only 19, younger than our own Jack Wilshere (who managed similar goals/assists in his breakthrough season). The positive with him is that he is only rated at about £13 million which is within our range for sure.
Markel Susaeta: This winger has been linked with Arsenal before and there were rumours that Wenger focussed more recent scouting reports on him solely. We may now be more interested in him after RVP’s likely departure from Arsenal (meaning Podolski will play through the middle). He managed to get an impressive 6 goals and 7 assists. Also more interestingly, he is only got one year left on his contract meaning that Arsene could definitely try to get him for something in the region of £6 million.
There are some great talents to be had from Bilbao. I would love to see Wenger aim for one of the big three as they could drastically increase the quality of our squad. They are however very loyal to their club and it could prove very difficult to tempt them away with a manager or not.
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