Transfer News: Arsenal close in on £10 million deal to land Aleksandr Golovin

Arsenal are reportedly closing in on a £10 million deal to secure the signing of CSKA Moscow star Aleksandr Golovin, who is also being tailed by Chelsea.

According to Russian publication Sports.ru, Arsenal are closing in on the signature of CSKA Moscow star Aleksandr Golovin. The player has been tailed by Chelsea in the recent past. However, he is edging towards a £10 million move to their London rivals Arsenal in the summer.

Aleksandr Golovin is one of the highest rated prospects for Russia’s next generation of the national team. The 21-year-old is a product of the CSKA Moscow youth academy and has progressed well before breaking into the first-team in the 2015-2016 campaign.

However, the recently concluded has served as the real break-through campaign for the player, with the 21-year-old racking up as many as 30 appearances in the Russian Premier League, becoming a regular fixture in the team for the runners-up of the concluded campaign.

Arsenal have no shortage of options in the midfield. But the injury to Santi Cazorla and the inconsistency of Granit Xhaka, Francis Coquelin has put serious doubts in Wenger’s thoughts as to the viability of the current options, which was visible as the Gunners produced one of the worst Premier League campaigns in their history, missing out on a top four place.

The formation shift has made the addition of empowering central midfielders even more imperative. The 3-4-2-1 formation need the two central midfielders to be a box-to-box midfielder who can mop up play as well as venture forward and create opportunities or get on the end of them.

At £10 million, Golovin presents a reasonable and relatively cheap addition to the squad for either Arsenal or Chelsea. The Blues are also looking at Golovin, though only as a squad player, whereas Arsenal may be able to provide a more integral role in the first-team setup.

Given the fact that Arsenal are set to play on Thursdays, the Gunners’ need for rotation would be more than Chelsea, who are in the Champions League. Hence, he will have a more pivotal role at Emirates and so could prefer a move to North London.

As per the report, the Gunners do appear to be closing in on the deal and the player could soon be heading towards the club. Andrei Arshavin established a legacy at the club and the Gunners would hope Golovin can somehow match or perhaps, even exceed the impact the former superstar had under Wenger’s tutelage.