Arsenal have made an enquiry for the services of Barcelona striker Memphis Depay this summer, if recent reports are to be believed. The Gunners are set for a huge overhaul in the striking department going into the transfer window.
It comes as Mikel Arteta is set to lose the pairing of Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah as free agents, unless a deal can be struck over the coming month or so. That leaves academy graduate Folarin Balogun left as the only natural centre-forward option at the club.
Couple that with the lack of an out-and-out goalscorer, and it’s a problem that must be addressed. The manager claimed that he will look to add to that department in the summer, saying: “He puts the ball in the net – that’s priority number one.
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“Goal threat. Any successful team needs enough goal threat in the squad. Without it, you have nothing.
“You can play good football, but you need enough goal threat in the team. The other thing is that he has to complement the other people we have, personally and on the pitch. We need the right profile.”
A number of strikers have been linked with a move to the Emirates, from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Gabriel Jesus to Darwin Nunez and Jonathan David. With the search taking them far and wide, another name has entered the fray.
That is Barcelona striker Memphis Depay, who ABC claim the Gunners have made an enquiry for. The 28-year-old joined the Blaugrana on a free transfer last summer from Lyon, making 27 appearances with 12 goals and two assists in La Liga.
CIES Football Observatory currently rate the player’s value at roughly €50million (£42million) in a deal that could see him return to the Premier League, where he had an unsuccessful stint at Manchester United.
Depay joins a long list of names and may be the one that Arteta settles on. Given he has slipped down the pecking order, behind former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, as well as rumours surrounding a move for Robert Lewandowski, an exit could be likely.
