Can PSG star Christopher Nkunku help Arsenal replace Aaron Ramsey?
Arsenal needed at least a few additions during the January transfer window but with just six days left, nothing has materialized so far. A move for Barcelona star Denis Suarez was close to fruition but that fell apart as the La Liga giants wanted a permanent move. Aaron Ramsey’s move to Juventus is as good as done but with the Old Lady interested in bringing the Welshman to Turin in January, multiple swap deal offers have gone unanswered.
And yet nothing has materialized. However, BBC’s David Ornstein has revealed that Arsenal have turned their attention towards another player who once played for Unai Emery – Christopher Nkunku. The 21-year-old versatile midfielder has been unused under Thomas Tuchel and is more than open to a move to join his former boss at the Emirates Stadium.
The BBC further adds that everyone at Arsenal believe that the Frenchman is Aaron Ramsey’s potential successor and are working on a loan deal with an option for a permanent one. However, questions do arise as to whether the 21-year-old is qualified play in the Premier League despite being a bit-part player at PSG.
Similar to French star Blaise Matuidi, Nkunku is an all-action star with the ability and skill to play as a right/left winger, right midfielder, right-back and his preferred central midfield role. Cool, calm and composed with the ball, the 21-year-old has developed slowly but steadily in PSG youth-academy before making his debut under former manager Laurent Blanc.
Since then the hype surrounding the starlet has only grown and having played alongside Blaise Matuidi, Thiago Motta and even Marco Verratti, Nkunku has inherited a few tricks from the PSG stars. For Arsenal, however, as Unai Emery and many other scouts may have explained, Christopher Nkunku is a lot like Ramsey in one key way, his late runs into the box.
The 21-year-old is ambitious and always looking to get forward with the ball, but it’s the ability to time his run perfectly, like the Welshman and score goals if and when required. That combined with the fact that his current deal expires at the end of next season, does allow Arsenal to add an affordable transfer fee into any loan move they might make before the end of the January transfer window.
But that needs to be done asap, and if nothing else, Arsenal also needs to add another right back, especially given their fixture list. Crucial games against Manchester City, and Europa League fixtures in the near future will prove to be a big problem without Hector Bellerin, but it will be an even bigger problem with Stephan Lichtsteiner’s ageing legs as back-up.
