Arsenal on the cusp of signing France’s answer to Aguero
Published:
Arsenal fans are always bemoaning their manager for the lack of a big-name striker arriving at the Emirates over the past few years. Well, names don’t come much larger than Wissam Ben Yedder.
Make that much longer. But on a more serious note, the Toulouse hotshot who, according to various sources, has suddenly shot to the head of Arsene Wenger’s transfer list, could well flip the opinions of cynical Gunners if he does indeed sign up as latest reports suggest he’s about to do.
There is a chance the Emirates faithful may well come to idolise Ben Yedder in the same fashion Manchester City fans worship Sergio Aguero.
The 25-year-old’s similar physical stature to the City folk hero – both men are around the 5ft 8” mark – and speed of action on the ball, down to their abilities to swivel and shoot on a sixpence, bear a striking resemblance (no pun intended).
Aguero may have achieved far more in terms of team and individual honours, but Ben Yedder’s lower profile up to this point belies his exploits for Ligue 1 minnows Toulouse, whom the 25-year-old has played for since the start of the 2010/11 campaign.
The livewire forward nicknamed “Benyebut” (‘but’ means goal in French) shone consistently for Toulouse over the past four Ligue 1 seasons, racking up 14-17 goals in each of them.
In that time the two-footed maestro has represented France at Futsal and the regular Les Blues U21 side.
Ben Yedder’s 2015/16 campaign was his most prolific yet, seeing 17 Ligue 1 strikes bagged and 23 scored in all competitions.
Given Wenger’s strong French links and the seemingly unstoppable flow of talent coming from across the English Channel to the Premier League in recent times, it seems a particularly plausible move.
At a rumoured £8m, it would be something of a coup for the Premier League club to prise one of Ligue 1’s leading talents away.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
