Arsenal appear to be tracking a number of wide forwards as they look to strengthen their squad ahead of the new season.
An area Unai Emery has been keen to strengthen since he arrived is wide areas. In January, Denis Suarez signed, but the move didn’t work out and he has returned to Barcelona. Now, the club have already signed Gabriel Martinelli and are exploring other opportunities.
Arsenal had an initial £40million bid for Wilfried Zaha rejected by Crystal Palace and the club may be looking at alternate, cheaper targets, with Palace valuing Zaha at closer to £100million.
Malcom was frequently linked with a move to Arsenal prior to his Barcelona switch, but a transfer never materialised.
According to Brazilian source GloboEsporte: ‘GloboEsporte.com has learned that Everton and Arsenal, both from the Premier League, also move to sign him (Malcom). In the case of the Gunners, this is a request from the coach Unai Emery.’
GloboEsporte tend to be a reliable source of information, so their claim that Emery has requested this signing is interesting.
Globo Esporte saying that Unai Emery asked Arsenal to sign Malcom is an interesting one. They are as reliable as it gets for Brazilian news.
— Renato (@rehnato) July 8, 2019
Due to the clubs limited transfer budget, you would presume that Malcom is seen as an alternative to Zaha, but it could be possible that both players are targets, especially if one of Aubameyang or Lacazette are sold this summer.
Both Aubameyang and Lacazette have just two years remaining on their current deals. Arsenal are likely to either tie them to new deals or sell them this summer as the club look to avoid situations like Aaron Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez reoccurring.
An initial loan for Malcom with an option to buy next season would be an appealing one. That way the club would preserve their transfer budget for this summer, but strengthen the squad and have the option to make the deal permanent next year. This approach will also allow the club to see if Malcom adapts to the Premier League.
This approach could potentially see the club sign both Zaha and Malcom and still retain their two diamond attacking assets.
Raul Sanllehi and Arsenal’s recent dealings with Barcelona (Suarez loan) could give the Gunners the advantage over Everton in negotiations.