Arsenal plot bid to sign “the next Kylian Mbappe” as £100m Barcola upgrade

Fortune favours the bold, and Arsenal are certainly showing no shortage of ambition in the summer transfer window, Mikel Arteta resolved to consolidate his position at the top of the tree.

We’re seeing plenty of efforts go into signing midfielders, both attack-focused and deeper-sat, but the Gunners don’t appear to be placing the same emphasis on signing a centre-forward at this moment in time.

Last season, Viktor Gyokeres finished the campaign as Arsenal’s top scorer in all competitions, bagging 21 goals. The Sweden striker is a Premier League champion, providing the finishing flourish on an attacking system that purrs when firing at full throttle.

But he isn’t world-class, someone who could spearhead Arsenal’s frontline over so many years.

Why Arsenal need to upgrade on Gyokeres

When Gyokeres arrived at Arsenal last summer, he arrived with a weight of expectation. Areta and comany had spent £67m on the Sporting CP striker, after all, and he had scored 97 goals from 102 appearances, obliterating Manchester City in the Champions League to prove his elite credentials.

If Gabriel Jesus departs, as has been mooted, then a vacancy could emerge for a more colourful number nine to enter the fray. Gyokeres, after all, averaged 5.5 touches per game, anonymous too often for the Emirates side.

In truth, Arsenal need far more vibrancy across their frontline, which is perhaps why they are focusing their efforts on signing Paris Saint-Germain forward Bradley Barcola.

While PSG publicly maintain their not-for-sale stance, there’s a growing sense that main competitors Arsenal and Liverpool could strike a deal for the Les Bleus star, albeit only if the Ligue 1 giants reduce their £128m asking price.

Barcola typically operates down the left flank, but he is a direct and dangerous forward who has been placed in more central striking berths from time to time. In that, his multi-functionality could work well in north London. He would be Gyokeres’ foil.

But £128m is a lot of money, and with so many exciting alternatives on the market, technical director Andrea Berta may hope to look somewhere else.

Arsenal ready to pay for dream Barcola alternative

Barcola is a talented forward, playing for the best club and, perhaps, the best country in world football but he is an add-on for both, not a talisman. Arsenal need a superstar up top, and they might have found the perfect target.

According to TEAMtalk, Arsenal are ready to lodge a ‘rival bid’ to sign Eli Junior Kroupi from Bournemouth this summer, though they face stiff competition from Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, with the latter currently making the most noise.

The 20-year-old has burst onto the scene after joining Bournemouth from Lorient in Ligue 2 one year ago, scoring 13 Premier League goals.

He might be worth quite the lump sum, expected to cost as much as £100m, but Arsenal would have the chance to sign a potentially generational talent in this one, and they surely can’t afford to pass up the opportunity, let him move to a rival.

Kroupi is a record breaker. He is one of the most exciting young forwards in the world, and his natural edge in front of goal ensured he scored more goals across a debut Premier League campaign than any other teenager – ever.

Step aside, the likes of Robbie Keane and Michael Owen. The young Frenchman is showing all the signs of a potential superstar, and given that Tottenham have a vested interest that they intend to act on, this could be an opportunity that the Gooners cannot allow to go begging.

In fact, Kroupi was described by GOAL as “the next Kylian Mbappe” a few years ago, and though he watches France’s imperious march toward the World Cup title from afar, there’s no question that the Cherries star is in line to star alongside his country’s all-powerful talisman when the time comes.

Barcola is an interesting forward, dynamic and versatile, but he’s not generational. He will never be the main man for France, whereas Kroupi is showing precocious qualities in front of goal, and that could allow him to blossom as the 27-year-old Mbappe’s natural successor for his nation.

Bournemouth belive that Kroupi is still developing, and that he would be best served on the south coast with Gary Rose’s outfit next term.

Sure, he is far from the finished product, but Arsenal have the perfect counterweight in Gyokeres, and it stands to reason that Arteta and co should throw the kitchen sink at a prodigious attacking talent while they still can, before he is snapped up by one of their rivals.