Arsenal Transfer News: Gunners keeping tabs on young Russian striker
What's the story?
According to Sky Sports, Arsenal are keeping tabs on 21-year-old Russian striker Fedor Chalov.
In case you didn't know...
Despite gifting some brilliant performances in both the Premier League and in the Europa League, the 2018-19 season finished in a disappointing manner for the Gunners.
Arsenal missed out a top four finish in the Premier League, finishing fifth in the standings, just a point and a place adrift of their bitter north London rivals Tottenham. Winning the Europa League was their only way of qualify for next season's Champions League. However, in the final, they lost 4-1 to Chelsea. Hence, the Gunners will once again be playing in the Europa League next season.
It was a decent season for Arsenal strikers Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. While the Frenchman scored 19 goals in all competitions, Aubameyang won the Premier League Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Manefor for netting 22 times in the league last season.
The performances of Lacazette and Aubameyang have not gone unnoticed, and it has been claimed that the Gabon international could move to the Chinese Super League
The heart of the matter
As per reports, Arsenal are monitoring CSKA Moscow's Chalov as a possible replacement for Aubameyang. Last season, the 21-year-old was the top scorer in the Russian Premier League, scoring 15 goals, while having a shooting accuracy of 61 per cent. He also averaged 75 per cent passing accuracy per match for the Russian side last season.
According to the same report, AS Monaco and Sevilla are also tracking the young striker. If any of Arsenal's two strikers leave the club this summer, the Gunners could go for Chalov.
What's next?
Arsenal will be looking to strengthen their squad this summer. However, their main focus should be bolstering their defence.