"He would fit in effortlessly" - Kevin Campbell urges Arsenal to complete audacious swap deal with Barcelona
Former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell has urged the Gunners to initiate talks with Barcelona over a potential swap deal. He wants the deal to involve Blaugrana's Frenkie De Jong and the Gunners' Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Philippe Coutinho has been rumored to be part of the deal from Barcelona's side. However, Campbell believes Arsenal should try to include Frenkie De Jong in the swap deal.
Campbell said:
“I would like De Jong if you don’t mind. I would love to see him at Arsenal. I cannot see them moving him on because he has been phenomenal for them; he really has. He is the one player who really fits into Mikel Arteta’s squad. He would fit in effortlessly. I think he’d be brilliant beside Thomas Partey.”
Breaking 🚨: Arsenal wants to swap Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with Philipe Coutinho.
What are Barcelona doing with so many strikers and wingers? Luuk De Jong, Jutgla, Ansu Fati, Martin Braithwaite, Yusuf Demir, Memphis Depay, Dembele, Alex Collado, Abde and soon Aubameyang. 😭💀
Arsenal have set their potential target list set for the winter transfer window and are planning to offload Gabonese. Aubameyang has fallen out of favour at Arsenal following a disciplinary breach and has been stripped of his captaincy. He has since been dropped from the Arsenal first team and has not played since their 2-1 loss to Everton on 7 December.
This, coupled with his below-par performance, has made Arteta ready to offload him.
Meanwhile, Barcelona have been struggling to score goals after their sole experienced striker Sergio Aguero was forced to retire due to medical issues. The Spanish giants are reportedly interested in bringing in the 32-year-old Gabonese international in a swap deal that includes Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho.
Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez is willing to let the Brazilian midfielder go as he is not considered the player for his style of play. Offloading Coutinho would also ease financial pressure on the club, which is already under severe financial woes. The Brazilian earns £380,000 per week at Camp Nou.
Meanwhile, Frenkie de Jong has also endured a tough spell at Barcelona. He was booed off in his last match at Camp Nou for his below-par performance in a 3-2 win over Elche.
‼️| Frenkie De Jong got booed when coming off. https://t.co/A4AfygDXE5
Frenkie de Jong was also put on the selling list by manager Xavi. The versatile midfielder has many admirers among the biggest European clubs after his exemplary rise in the Ajax setup a few years back.
Apart from Arsenal, Premier League club Manchester United are eyeing a bid for De Jong, if and when he is officially looking for a way out.
Barcelona and Arsenal look to build their teams from scratch under their new manager Xavi and Arteta
Barcelona and Arsenal are undergoing a planned overhaul of their teams under managers Xavi Hernandez and Mikel Arteta.
Barcelona sacked manager Ronald Koeman after a woeful start to the season and replaced him with club legend Xavi in November.
However, Barcelona are still struggling in the ongoing La Liga season. The departure of many key players, including Lionel Messi, has hampered the performance of the Spanish giants in the league they have dominated for decades. They sit in seventh position in the table, 18 points off leaders and rivals Real Madrid. They were also knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage after a poor run.
Meanwhile, Arsenal brought in Mikel Arteta on a four-and-a-half year deal in 2019. His job was to restructure the team after a series of horrible seasons in the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta's reforms in the club environment are showing results as the Gunners currently sit in fourth spot in the Premier League table. Arsenal have also qualified for the EFL Cup semifinals after beating Sunderland 5-1. They will lock horns with Liverpool in a two legged tie, the first of which will be played on January 7.