While penning his thoughts for his column on Caught Offside, Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano provided an update on Bissouma’s transfer. He also explained the situation at Arsenal regarding the transfer saga of the Mali international and Youri Tielemans.
Over the past year, many clubs were in discussion and rumours to sign the Brighton midfielder. But the trail went barren and again reignited. Now, the journalist says that a move to Aston Villa won’t happen and Arsenal are also prioritizing Tielemans transfer.
Romano wrote:
“There was much talk about Yves Bissouma a few months ago, but it’s gone a little quiet recently, and it seems a move to Aston Villa is now not happening.”
“Still, his agent has had conversations with many top clubs in recent times, but so far Brighton want to wait for a sale: the price for Bissouma has always been close to €40/45m.”
“Arsenal have been following him for months but the priority is to understand if they can complete the Youri Tielemans deal, while Manchester United have yet to decide who will be the final priority target of the midfield. As I’ve written before, it could be more likely that they pursue Frenkie de Jong, but there are challenges with that deal.”
Who will be better for Arsenal: Tielemans or Bissouma?
This will be a tough call for Edu, Arteta and the rest of Arsenal management. Both Bissouma and Tielemans possess immense talent and quality on the field. Also, both have adequate Premier League experience, so the setting of ‘new move blues’ is quite unlikely.
However, both have different profiles. Tielemans is a traditional deep-lying playmaker whose core strength is ball distribution, playmaking and striking from distance. On the other hand, Bissouma’s main abilities include dribbling, work rate and on-the-ball skills. The Gunners’ management feels that Tielemans can be the perfect signing for them and there’s not much room to disagree.
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