Arsenal are reportedly considering launching a summer move for Lyon striker Moussa Dembele, who is currently on loan at La Liga club Atletico Madrid.
According to a report from The Telegraph, Premier League’s fallen giants Arsenal are weighing up the possibility of making a move for French forward Moussa Dembele as they eye summer reinforcements in attack.
Dembele spent the early years of his footballing journey at the PSG and Fulham youth academies before rising to stardom during a two-year stint at Celtic when he plundered 51 goals in 94 games. A switch to Lyon followed in the summer of 2018, and he continued on his prolific goalscoring ways, managing 44 goals in his first two campaigns with the Ligue 1 club.
However, the 2020/21 campaign saw him manage just one goal in 18 league outings before joining La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid on loan in January. Having arrived at the Wanda Metropolitano, the 24-year-old has struggled with injuries and fitness problems, due to which he has been restricted to just six appearances across all competitions with no goal or assist to show for.
Atletico Madrid have an option of making his transfer permanent at the end of the season for a transfer fee of around £30 million but they might be reluctant to do so given how things have gone for Dembele so far in Spain. This could pave the way for Arsenal to make a swoop as they look to bolster their centre-forward department this summer.
Arsenal are staring at the prospect of having to sell both Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah this summer given the duo is entering the final year of their respective contracts. With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also enduring a difficult season and surprisingly linked with an exit, Mikel Arteta will be in desperate need of some fresh faces at the top of the attack come next season.
To that end, Arsenal have been linked with a number of strikers, including Dembele’s former Celtic teammate Odsonne Edouard, while the 24-year-old Lyon man has himself emerged as a potential transfer target now. The Frenchman is contracted with Lyon till the summer of 2023, but the Ligue 1 outfit would be open to sale for a fee of around £25 million come summer.
Despite enduring a difficult campaign, Dembele is a player who can be a consistent source of goals, as he showcased for Celtic as well as Lyon over the past couple of years. It now remains to be seen if Arsenal are willing to take a punt on the 24-year-old or look for alternate targets such as Duvan Zapata of Atalanta.