Arsenal are willing to splash out £35 million for Emiliano Buendia, even though Norwich City value him at £40 million.
According to a report from Sky Sports, Arsenal are ready to play lowball with Norwich City over the transfer of Emiliano Buendia. The highly-rated playmaker is valued at £40 million by the Canaries, who have recently won promotion back to the Premier League after a successful season in the Championship.
Daniel Farke’s side has already rebuffed Arsenal’s £30 million bid for Buendia earlier this week, but it appears the Gunners have come up with a second bid worth £35 million. The player is also courted by Aston Villa as well, with Dean Smith having a long-standing interest in the Argentine.
Buendia has indeed become one of the hottest prospects in the English market at the moment, following a successful 2020/21 campaign at Norwich City. He was, in fact, the focal point of the club’s fight for promotion, producing a total of 15 goals and 17 assists in just 39 league matches.
The 24-year-old’s contributions notably earned him a call-up to the Argentina national team for the upcoming Copa America. A move to a bigger club could also be on the horizon, as the likes of Arsenal and Aston Villa are well aware of the impact he had made during the 2019/20 Premier League season as well.
It seems the Gunners are now keen on adding them to their books, with Mikel Arteta determined to find a creative focal point in his team. Martin Odegaard was the priority target, but any permanent move for the Real Madrid playmaker is going to cost a fortune.
Arsenal have targeted multiple players as potential cost-effective alternatives, including Nabil Fekir and Julian Brandt, but neither of them has the pedigree or the experience of performing in English football.
It makes Buendia the desired transfer target for Arteta, although the Spaniard needs to offload multiple players in order to be able to afford other players. Even Granit Xhaka has been linked with a move away from Emirates in recent weeks.
Arsenal, nevertheless, are still the favourites to sign the Norwich City star, knowing they can offer better wages than Aston Villa. A fee of an additional £5 million shouldn’t particularly be difficult either, given the players they are expected to sell in the upcoming summer transfer window, including Willian.
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As for Norwich City, their chances of keeping hold of Buendia is almost non-existent and it might be time for the Canaries to start scouting for a replacement if they are to survive in the Premier League next term.
