Arsenal have reportedly opened talks with SC Freiburg over the transfer of defender Caglar Soyuncu, who is likely available for a fee around the €30 million mark.
According to Daily Mail, Caglar Soyuncu is the next Bundesliga player to emerge on the radar of Arsenal. The Gunners have initiated talks with SC Freiburg over the transfer of the defender and could likely move for the player in the summer in a deal reported to be worth around €30 million.
Sven Mislintat’s arrival from Borussia Dortmund has seen a shift in Arsenal’s transfer plans, with the Gunners now targeting the Bundesliga to unearth hidden or in some cases, not so hidden gems. So far, the arrival of Granit Xhaka, Sead Kolasinac and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has yielded positive results in their own way.
Caglar Soyuncu could become the next Bundesliga star to make the journey to North London in the summer. The Turkish international has taken European football by storm this season, with his performance in the Bundesliga for SC Freiburg and has even garnered interest from clubs like Manchester United, Manchester City, AS Roma, Liverpool and Chelsea over the past year or so.
The 21-year-old has the perfect mixture of height and agility needed for a modern defender in world football. While Freiburg have kept just 7 clean sheets in the 21 Bundesliga matches that Soyuncu has been a part of, so far this season, it is the centre-back’s aerial prowess combined with his technical prowess on the ball that has impressed the clubs.
Sven Mislintat also looks to have taken a liking to Soyuncu, who has all the qualities needed in a perfect Arsenal centre-back – pace, aerial prowess, technical ability and ability to read the game, with perhaps his lack of discipline on the pitch the only botched mark on his CV thus far. The head of recruitment at Arsenal is now weighing up a summer bid for the 21-year-old.
Arsenal’s current options at centre-back may be several in numbers. But, Per Mertesacker will call it quits at the end of the season, while Konstantinos Mavropanos is deemed not yet ready to be a regular, leaving Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi, Rob Holding and Calum Chambers as the options at Wenger’s disposal.
Mustafi, despite a great start at Arsenal, has somewhat petered out over the second half of the campaign while Holding and Chambers have been good only in spurts. The Gunners have also somewhat struggled at the back this season, making summer reinforcements in central defence one of the priorities.
In fact, Arsenal have already established contact with Freiburg over a possible summer move for Soyuncu. But, the Bundesliga outfit is a bit hesitant in letting go of their star defender, who has just had his breakout season at the club.
Still, a €30 million offer, according to the report, could be enough to convince Freiburg to part with the 21-year-old. Soyuncu could also relish the prospect of moving to a league as illustrious as the English Premier League and a club as iconic as Arsenal, and be a part of the Gunners’ rebuild.
By all means, Wenger is unlikely to stay at the club for long, even if he does end up staying beyond the summer. And Soyuncu could be one of his gifts to his successor.
