Liverpool and Arsenal set to battle for 19-year-old Serie A breakout star: Reports
Arsenal and Liverpool are reportedly in a transfer race to rope in Juventus attacker Kenan Yildiz, who has lately earned plaudits for his fine outings.
Yildiz, 19, has emerged as one of the most promising forwards in the Serie A since the start of the campaign. He has cemented himself as a starter for Thiago Motta's side, scoring three goals and contributing two assists in 12 appearances across all competitions this term.
Now, according to Caught Offside, both Arsenal and Liverpool are monitoring Yildiz with the intention of signing him in the future. While the Gunners are aiming to sign the player as Bukayo Saka's backup, the Reds have identified him as a successor to Mohamed Salah.
Prior to starting 10 of his 12 total appearances this campaign, Yildiz featured in 32 overall outings for Juventus last season. The ambidextrous forward registered four goals and one assist in 10 starts last term.
The Arsenal and Liverpool target joined Juventus on a Bosman move from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022. He spent a decade at the Bundesliga giants' youth ranks after arriving from Jahn Regensburg.
Liverpool boss ecstatic after draw at Arsenal
Earlier this Sunday (October 27), Liverpool came back from behind twice to record a 2-2 stalemate at Emirates Stadium. Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino netted a goal each in the first half, while Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah scored for the Reds on either side of the break.
At a post-game press conference, Reds head coach Arne Slot was asked to share his thoughts on his team's first Premier League draw of the season. He replied (h/t liverpoolfc.com):
"Going two times behind against a very strong and good Arsenal team and then to get a point is pleasing to see, especially because we had to play an away game in Europe this week. We had one day less to recover."
Slot, who has guided his club to 11 wins in 13 total games, added:
"To prepare and then to go two times behind with the fans being so loud and us coming back strongly [in the] second half – because I think we deserved to be 2-1 down or one goal down at half-time – then is very pleasing to see that we had the energy and that we were so strong to fight ourselves back in the game [in the] second half."
Slot's side relished 55% possession, recorded nine shots, and also completed 387 passes with 83% accuracy against Mikel Arteta's outfit.