“New number Eight soon” – Watts claims Arsenal have reached out to their key transfer target for the summer as possible new “number eight” look really certain!
Journalist Charles Watts has claimed that Arsenal transfer target Mason Mount might not be an immediate starter if he joins this summer.
What’s the latest on Arsenal and Mason Mount?
The Gunners look to be in the market for a new midfielder and surely will look to sign one or two players at the end of the season.
After all, the likes of Moises Caicedo and Declan Rice have been discussed widely in the media as possible targets. However, it seems as though Mikel Arteta may want to add a more attack-minded option to his midfield as well.
Indeed, Watts reported earlier in the week that the Chelsea midfielder Mount is currently a target for the Gunners and talks have taken place over trying to potentially sign him in the summer (via Goal).
And while elaborating on this on his YouTube channel, the journalist praised the Englishman but warned he might not start immediately in the team.
He said: “I think Mason Mount is a good player. I’ve always liked Mason Mount and I think in that sort of number eight role, in Arteta’s system, I think he’d worked pretty well. I wouldn’t say necessarily will come in and be a starter but you know we’re looking at Arsenal squad at the moment and they need to improve.
“And so, I think a lot of it would depend on how much a transfer fee would be, what sort of wages he would demand. But I think Chelsea are open to selling him this summer because they know that he’s not going to sign a new contract or it’s looking very unlikely he’s going to sign a new contract.
“And Arsenal are sort of monitoring it. I don’t know if they’re going to press a button and actually firm up their interest and try and sign him. We’ll have to wait and see when the season ends and the summer transfer window opens.
“But he is certainly a player that they are looking at and have held talks about.”
Would Mount start for Arsenal?
Seeing as the £80k-p/w midfielder has already won a Champions League title – starting and playing 80 minutes in the final – one might assume the Chelsea star would walk into the Arsenal team.
However, this season, the Blues have not managed to do quite so well as their London rivals and sit wallowing in mid-table while the Gunners push for a Premier League title.
All the while, Mount has started just 20 times in the league, earning a 6.70 WhoScored rating. In comparison, the likes of Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard have all started whenever fit for the Gunners and all have a superior average WhoScored match rating.
With that being the case, even if Arteta added the Chelsea man to his team next term, it’s not as though he’s in better form than any Arsenal midfield starter – so Watts certainly has a fair point.
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