Arsenal are favourites to sign Bayer Leverkusen striker Christian Kofane during the next transfer window, according to his agent Eric Depolo.
The Gunners are preparing for a busy summer transfer window, and there could be a change upfront with Gabriel Jesus entering the final year of his contract at the London side.
Jesus could be offloaded for a knockdown price, and the onus could be on landing a young striker with potential, who can compete with Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz next term.
In an interview with Daily-Arsenal.com, Depolo has revealed that Arsenal have a genuine interest in Kofane and manager Mikel Arteta is a big admirer of the young centre-forward.
He added that the Gunners have established contact with him regarding his client, but the club are presently focused on winning the Premier League before planning for future signings.
He said: “Yes, Arsenal’s interest is genuine. The manager (Mikel Arteta) likes him very much.
“I think it is too early to say, but due to the fact that the player speaks Spanish, like Mikel Arteta, and that William Saliba is originally from Cameroon, I would say Arsenal are in pole position.
“Yes, there is contact between me and Arsenal. But their focus right now is to win the league — from there everything will start moving.”
Huge talent
Kofane signed for Leverkusen from Albacete last summer and has already managed over 1,700 minutes this campaign. He has chipped in with 7 goals and 8 assists from 39 appearances for the Bundesliga heavyweights across all competitions.
The striker did not score against Arsenal in the Champions League last 16 meetings this month, but he left a big impression. He provided plenty of headache for William Saliba. The Gunners star was outsmarted by the Cameroonian several times with his movement and physicality.
Kofane replicated the feat in the 2nd leg at the Emirates Stadium. He was strong in aerial duels against Saliba once more. The youngster almost brought Leverkusen back into the game at 2-0 down. David Raya made a stellar fingertip save to deny Kofane a fantastic goal in the 87th minute.
His passing was also top notch in both of those ties. He misplaced just 1 of 18 passes with a completion rate of 94% at the BayArena. It was quite similar at the Emirates with 16 out of 18 successful (89%). Kofane definitely passed the eye test, and Arsenal could make a serious move for him this summer.
Sky Sport journalist Florian Plettenberg claims that he could be purchased for a package between £52 million and £61 million at the end of the campaign. Arsenal could be prepared to pay a premium fee for the striker, who has shown his big-game potential at Leverkusen.
