Arsenal are reportedly eyeing Max Meyer and Yacine Brahimi as summer replacements for contract rebels Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.
According to a report in The Sun, Arsenal are preparing for life without contract rebels Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez by plotting a £50 million double summer swoop for Schalke playmaker Max Meyer and Porto forward Yacine Brahimi.
Ozil and Sanchez have been in a contract standoff with Arsenal for several months now, with little development over a renewal. While both of them have indeed combined to become a formidable duo in the final third for the Gunners, their continued reluctance to sign a new deal is increasingly making the club officials uneasy.
Ozil and Sanchez both have just over 12 months remaining on their respective contracts with Arsenal, and with growing uncertainty surrounding their futures at the Emirates, they have been linked with a summer exit from the North London club.
While Ozil is being linked with a shock move to Manchester United, the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, PSG and others are interested in Sanchez. This, despite the duo reportedly being offered new deals in upwards of £250,000-a-week.
With little clarity over the futures of Ozil and Sanchez at the Emirates beyond the current campaign, it is understandable that Arsenal have started laying contingency plans to have them replaced in the worst case scenario in the summer. And those plans have led them to two fellow European clubs.
Ozil’s replacement has, according to The Sun, been identified as his compatriot, Max Meyer, the 21-year-old Schalke playmaker. The German starlet, who exploded onto the scene at the tender age of 17, has emerged as one of the most exciting young prospects in Europe with Die Konigsblauen.
And while he still hasn’t produced prolific numbers for the club in recent seasons – he only has 2 goals and 5 assists in 2016/17 – he still has his best years ahead of him and can be developed into a world class playmaker under Arsene Wenger.
Meanwhile, Yacine Brahimi has been a revelation for Porto ever since he moved to the Portuguese giants from Spanish minnows Granada in 2014. In nearly three years with the club he has played more 118 times, and has established himself as a key figure for them.
This season, Brahimi has played 19 Liga NOS games for Porto, scoring five goals while providing four assists in the process. What’s even more enticing about Brahimi for Arsenal is his versatility, as he has the ability to play out wide as well as through the middle. And, at 27 he is enjoying the best years of his career.
Arsenal will not be the only club in the running for Meyer, with Liverpool also keen on signing him in the summer. Meanwhile, the Gunners have been long-time admirers of Brahimi, having previously registered an interest in the Algerian international last summer.
So, it is a clear indication that Arsenal have started preparing for Ozil and Sanchez’s possible summer exits from the club by scouting Meyer and Brahimi. But while the replacements seem to have been identified, they do not nearly offer the same value that the current incumbents provide at the Emirates.
It does go without saying, though, that the club officials at Arsenal would like nothing else but to keep hold of their prized assets beyond the end of the season. But if Ozil and Sanchez do end up moving, we could well see Meyer and Brahimi make the switch to the Emirates in the summer.
