Many Arsenal fans will be familiar with the story of when the club fumbled an opportunity to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic during Arsene Wenger’s tenure. The legendary Swedish striker revealed on Piers Morgan’s YouTube channel that he had a meeting with the French boss during his younger days, when the likes of Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, and Thierry Henry were there, about a potential move to London.
However, the Malmo youngster did not react well to Wenger revealing that he would have to go on trial for two weeks before the Gunners decided to sign him, and that caused any potential deal to collapse, as he recalled “I don’t do trials“.
In the present day, Mikel Arteta now has an opportunity to sign a striker who has been compared to the former Sweden international and is reportedly keeping tabs on his situation.
Arsenal’s interest in Serie A marksman
According to Sky Sports, the Gunners are one of the clubs eyeing a deal to sign Bologna centre-forward Joshua Zirkzee ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window.
The report claims that they are closely monitoring the Netherlands international alongside fellow Premier League side Manchester United, who did not qualify for the Champions League this season.
This could give the London giants an edge over their rivals if the former Bayern Munich attacker is keen on playing in Europe’s premier cup competition.
However, Italian side AC Milan are also pushing hard to get a deal done for the young whiz and have already held talks with his representatives during a meeting in London, but they are yet to reach an agreement.
Sky Sports also states that the player has a release clause of £34m in his current contract with Bologna, which would allow any of the interested sides to snap him up without having to outbid each other.
They then reveal that Arsenal have decided to turn their attention away from Premier League targets, namely Alexander Isak, and are looking abroad for a young striker who they could develop, like Zirkzee.
Why Arsenal should sign Joshua Zirkzee
Firstly, he fits what the club are looking for as the Dutch star is a 23-year-old forward who has plenty of time left to develop and improve his game. But Zirkzee could also be an excellent immediate addition to Arteta’s squad as a young and unique centre-forward who has been compared to the legendary Ibrahimovic.
Analyst Ben Mattinson described him as being an “insane” athlete “just like” the retired Swedish superstar due to his incredible agility and athleticism whilst standing at a height of 6 foot 4.
|
23/24 Serie A |
Joshua Zirkzee |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
34 |
|
xG |
9.01 |
|
Goals |
11 |
|
Big chances created |
11 |
|
Assists |
4 |
|
Dribbles completed per game |
1.5 |
As you can see in the table above, he also has an impressive end product at the top end of the pitch to go along with his “unheard of” – per Mattinson – physical attributes.
Whilst it did not lead to a goal, due to the poor finish, the clip above illustrates all of this as Zirkzee holds off defenders, twists and turns, and then impressively uses his heel to perfectly set up a teammate for a big chance.
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A decision on the impressive centre-forward’s future is expected before Euro 2024.
The 23-year-old whiz appears to have all the physical and technical attributes, given his impressive finishing skills in the Serie A, to develop into a fantastic player for Arsenal, which is why they should push ahead with a deal for him this summer.