Arsenal dealt blow in pursuit of wonderkid as Barcelona confirm talks following scouting mission
Arsenal have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Arda Guler as Barcelona ramp up their interest in the 18-year-old Fenerbahce star.
A host of top clubs from around Europe are interested in Guler after a breakthrough season in Turkey.
The attacking midfielder has garnered plenty of hype and has even drawn some comparisons to Lionel Messi due to his style of play.
It recently came to light that Arsenal had taken a step ahead of Newcastle and Liverpool in pursuit of Guler, although they are now wary of Barcelona’s interest.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta confirmed their interest in the 18-year-old and clarified that talks have taken place.
“We are talking to Fenerbahce for Arda Guler. All the top European clubs want him,” Laporta told Mundo Deportivo.
“Arda is a very young Turkish player and it is true that our scouting department has been following him for a long time.”
The youngster scored six goals and grabbed seven assists in 35 matches for Fenerbahce across all competitions in 2022/23.
He has already been capped four times by his country as is one of the hottest prospects in Europe right now.
While plenty of Premier League clubs are interested, Fabrizio Romano has suggested that Guler himself would prefer a move to Spain.
“At the moment, from what I’m hearing on Arda Guler’s side, they want to consider all the possibilities,” Romano explained on his YouTube channel.
“They want to speak with many clubs and so nothing has been approved yet. Also Fenerbahce are really pushing to have the player at least for one more season, before letting him go in summer 2024.
“Barca have made a verbal, but concrete proposal, concrete bid to Arda Guler. They presented the project for the future, but they also presented a kind of bid to the player.
“At the moment it was just a conversation on the player’s side to present the project and to present a bid to the player. Now let’s see what Guler will decide because it’s true that many clubs want him.
“I can say that, from what I understand, the Spanish league, La Liga, is the priority for Arda, but let’s see how that will go.”
Arsenal have already completed a deal for Kai Havertz and they are on the verge of signing Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber.
They will carefully consider their next steps in regard to Guler and whether it is worth rivalling Barcelona for his signature.
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