Danny Welbeck’s severe ankle injury has kicked his Arsenal career into touch and potentially opened up the possibility of a new face coming through the door of the Emirates to replace him during the upcoming transfer window.
The fracture he sustained in Europa League action against Sporting Lisbon will sideline him for the rest of the season and, with his contract due to run out in the summer, his future at the club looks bleak.
Arsenal's new head of football Raul Sanllehi has revealed that the club is open to making a move to replace his spot in the squad as
"Welbeck's injury is absolutely something unplanned," he said. "Yes, that makes you consider things. We are in November, so it's a good time to start analysing what options we have in the market.
"We are not closing the door but it's still not the preferred one. If there is a very good opportunity, we are definitely going to consider [it], we will see."
There’s been a number of names linked to a January move for Arsenal but, perhaps most eye-catchingly for fans of the Gunners, there’s a World Cup winning forward popping up on the back pages.
The Barcelona-based outlet Sport claim that Arsenal have approached Barcelona to enquire about the availability of the disaffected 21-year-old Ousmane Dembele.
Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde appears to have lost faith in the young Frenchman, who was made the game’s fourth-most expensive player when moving to the Camp Nou from Borussia Dortmund in a £97m move.
Tales of lateness and ill-discinpline have dogged the youngster during his time there.
His teammate Luis Suarez has recently told him to be “more serious” about his job recently, while news has emerged from Germany about a lawsuit he faces from a former landlord in a Dortmund court.
This could leave an opening for Unai Emery’s side to snap up one of the most promising players in world football at a time when his stock has dipped somewhat.
The former Rennes player is said to be a close friend of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, which could help ease in any bedding in process for a young player who may just in need of a fresh start.
Raul Sanllehi, mentioned above, is an ex-Barcelona employee himself and that may also help grease the wheels of any potential deal.
