Arsenal are in danger of losing another Ligue 1 target at the hands of Newcastle as the summer transfer window approaches.
According to Italian news outlet Tuttomercatoweb, the Magpies have joined Arsenal in persuing the signature of promising Lille forward Jonathan David ahead of the start of next season.
It has been widely reported that the Gunners have identified David as being a potential striker signing to solve the forward issues that will be seen as a crisis in the summer.
However, if Newcastle acts upon their interest for the striker then it could be possible that a Bruno Guimaraes repeat is on the cards for Arsenal.
Eddie Howe added Guimaraes to his team in the January transfer window, despite Arsenal also reportedly being interested in the midfielder, which caused unrest amongst the fanbase.
The Gunners failed to sign a midfielder in the winter window, which made losing out on Guimaraes feel even worse for the north London side, as he certainly would have improved Mikel Arteta’s midfield, who will be set to suffer from a lack of depth in the summer, due to the huge number of offloads in this position.
And Edu must not repeat the same mistake with David if he is Arsenal’s main striker transfer target ahead of next season.
Arsenal will be in desperate need of a striker in the summer, as Alexandre Lacazette could be set to leave the club at the of the season due to his contract expiring at the end of this campaign.
If he does depart from the club then Arsenal could be left with just one recognised striker in the form of Folarin Balogun. Nketiah’s contract is also set to expire at the end of the season and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s move to Barcelona means that Edu would have offloaded three forwards within the space of six months.
In this campaign, David already has 12 goals in Ligue 1 which is the second highest in a league that boasts the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, so it would be an opportunity missed if Arsenal didn’t secure his signature.
According to The Athletic, Arsenal have been long-term admirers of the young striker since his time in Belgium with Gent before he joined Lille in 2020.
And Edu has the advantage in securing his signature over Newcastle as The 21-year-old also admitted his admiration for the Gunners.
"European clubs made me dream," he told L’Equipe earlier this year. "I watched Barca a lot, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, with Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira."
David is reportedly set to cost around £47m and if this is the case, then Arsenal must prevent Newcastle from stealing another bargain transfer under the hands of the club, as the Canadia forward would certainly be an excellent solution to the striker issues.
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