“If he leaves, it will be for Arsenal.” Nabil Fekir’s father said of the Frenchman back in 2015, yet it’s his quotes that are being brought up again as the January transfer window edges closer. With the Gunners destined to lose one of Alexis Sanchez or Mesut Ozil in the New Year, or even both, attention turns to replacing the duo, with Fekir once again rumoured to be on Arsenal’s radar. Given the 24-year-old’s form for Lyon this season, they’d be hard-pressed to find a more suitable replacement for either player in the final third.
Fekir has been in astonishing form domestically, chipping on with 11 goals and a further four assists; no player has had a direct hand in more goals than the Lyon star in France’s top tier this term. He missed a vast majority of the 2015/16 season – Fekir made just five league starts having sustained a serious knee ligament injury – but he is very much making up for lost time in Ligue 1.
Indeed, he’s second to Neymar (61) for successful dribbles (44) and ranks highly for key passes (24) as he continues to blow away opposing French sides. A chance to link up with his partner in crime, Alexandre Lacazette, would also be a tantalizing proposition for both player and club. Lacazette provided three of Fekir’s nine league goals last season, that one of the better assist-to-goalscorer combinations in Ligue 1.
Lyon would be keen to retain his services and understandably so – Fekir to Mariano has already yielded three league goals this term, the joint-best assist-to-goalscorer combination – yet if Arsenal come knocking, they may find it difficult to reject a second advance from the Premier League side in a matter of months. In a drab Gunners forward line that looks devoid of a spark of creative, Fekir could be just the main to reignite the free-flowing attacking football that Arsenal were once renowned for.
While many Arsenal fans are contemplating how best to cover the respective losses of Alexis and Ozil when they do eventually leave, be it in January or the summer, then there is no denying that Fekir should be top of Arsene Wenger’s wishlist. An effective player out wide, behind the striker or even leading the charge, his versatility in the final third further adds to Fekir’s already impressive skillset with his ability to play in a number of attacking positions affording managers tactical flexibility, safe in the knowledge that the Lyon man will either create chances for teammates or put the ball in the back of the net himself.
The opportunity to reunite with Lacazette would also be a tough proposition for the Lyon captain to turn down, though this in turn presents problems in itself. Lyon owner Jean-Michel Aulas is notoriously difficult to negotiate with and the 68-year-old would do all he could to ensure Lyon retain the services of Fekir, at least until next summer where they could command a top fee should he star the World Cup. That being said, if Arsenal are serious about a return to the top-4, they should go all out to land Fekir in the New Year, even if they successfully retain Alexis and Ozil.
His flying form in France has not gone unnoticed and if he maintains this level of consistency, a number of top teams will look to snap him up sooner rather than later. While Arsenal came close to luring Thomas Lemar away from Monaco over the summer, and it reported they could return for the 21-year-old when the transfer window re-opens, the Gunners would do well to instead approach Fekir to improve Wenger’s attacking options.
Yes, Lemar may have a higher ceiling, but Fekir is a more-rounded player and perhaps a better fit for an Arsenal side that looks to deploy two number 10s behind the lone forward. There’s an image doing the rounds of Twitter from Sunday that shows Arsenal pegging Manchester City back, with six players in a line waiting for Hector Bellerin to play that killer pass. The lack of movement was a concern – it was their attack in a microcosm. With the guile to drift past opponents and the tools to unlock any defence on his day, Fekir should be a priority signing for Arsenal, regardless of the cost needed to convince Lyon to sell.
