Arsenal's summer striker search has consisted mainly of two heavily linked names. Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus and Sassuolo's Gianluca Scamacca. Whilst Jesus links have been more consistent, Scamacca is of clear interest to Arsenal and shouldn't be ruled out as an option.
However, Arsenal now seem to be facing serious competition from elsewhere for the Italian. Clubs in Europe are circling, with well-known Italian source Gianluca Di Marzio giving the latest on the striker's future.
Di Marzio claimed it is PSG who are pushing strongest for Scamacca, the French champions offering Sassuolo £30m plus bonuses. The Italian club are looking for closer to £45m to let their striker go this summer.
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Arsenal don't appear to be out of the picture just yet, but if they are to sign Scamacca they will need to act quickly.
Scamacca is a 23-year-old striker who has made a name for himself this season, scoring 16 goals in the Serie A. His finishing is strong but his hold-up play is also an attractive feature of his game. Standing at a towering 6'4, the striker can use his body to hold off defenders and bring the ball down with ease.
This could be a valuable asset to Arsenal. In some games last season they struggled to play out from the back and seemed to lack a 'plan B'. With a striker like Scamacca, the option to play long is always open.
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With such height, heading ability naturally springs to mind too. Arsenal have lacked a strong heading forward for a long time now and Scamacca could be just the man to get on the end of Kieran Tierney and Bukayo Saka's floated crosses.
Mikel Arteta and Technical Director, Edu Gaspar, have an important decision ahead of them this summer. The top target appears to be Gabriel Jesus, but putting all your eggs in one basket could be risky. With Scamacca still on the market, Arsenal will need to consider their strategy carefully, but quickly before both players are unavailable.
Topics: Arsenal, Transfers, Mikel Arteta
Evan Lloyd