Arsenal have already agreed to sign their own version of Bradley Barcola

It has nearly been two months since Arsenal danced and celebrated in front of the away supporters at Selhurst Park to lift the Premier League aloft for the first time in 22 years.

What a day it was. Nobody is going to forget that moment in a hurry. That said, with the World Cup ongoing, the Gunners’ progress in the transfer window as they bid to capitalise on that success has been rather slow.

For the time being, they are yet to take advantage of their champions status, but it surely will not be long before they complete a major deal.

Andrea Berta has plenty of irons in the fire from the club’s pursuit of Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers.

While Guimaraes might be available for a rather more modest fee, the price surrounding Rogers is a whopping £130m. Whether Villa are open to negotiating, however, remains to be seen.

If that move doesn’t go through, they are set to turn their attentions towards PSG’s Bradley Barcola.

How Barcola compares to Arsenal’s wide players

Last season was an almighty struggle for a number of players in Arsenal’s forward line.

Viktor Gyokeres may have scored 21 goals in all competitions but much of his general play left a lot to be desired. The same can be said for fellow summer arrival Noni Madueke.

The former Chelsea man gave Bukayo Saka some much needed respite but his performance levels were so inconsistent, scoring only three times in the Premier League.

Over on the left-hand side, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard were not much better, if at all.

Martinelli has been a favourite of Mikel Arteta’s ever since the Spaniard arrived as manager but he bagged just one goal in the league all season. As for Trossard, the Belgian endured a wretched 2026 before finding the winner against West Ham. That remains his only goal at club level this calendar year.

With Saka on the right, there is no need to bolster the ranks there but on the left there certainly is, particularly if Trossard heads for Besiktas, as is widely expected.

In Barcola, they’d secure a phenomenal replacement. Unlike the current wide players already at the Emirates, perhaps Saka aside, he is an electric talent, someone capable of delivering an enormous number of goal involvements across a season.

In 2024/25, the French sensation scored 21 and assisted 21. To put those numbers into contex, no winger in the Arsenal squad has ever registered better numbers across a full campaign.

2025/26 was a slower affair for Barcola with 13 goals and seven assists, but he was still electric for PSG, helping them to a successive Champions League crown.

Like Rogers, the France forward does have a big price tag, thought to be stretching to around £128m. A cut-price option like Christos Tzolis is being explored as a result, but as it happens, Berta has already secured one really talented winger.

Arsenal’s answer to Barcola has already agreed to a move

Barcola may well be a regular scorer of goals and a regular provider of chances but he’s not solely about that. No, this is one of Europe’s most dangerous wingers. He’s a full-back’s nightmare.

Compared to positionally similar players in Europe’s top five leagues, he ranks among the top 10% for successful dribbles per 90 minutes with as many as 2.52 and among the best 2% for progressive carries per 90 with 6.53. Give the ball to the Frenchman and expect ball progression of the highest order.

Arsenal don’t exactly lack ball carriers but they do lack mavericks in their forward line and that’s precisely what the 23-year-old is. Well, it just so transpires that the Gunners may well have already signed their own version of Barcola.

Cast your mind back to the Autumn of 2025 and you may well recall two names; Edwin Quinter and Holger Quintero. If you don’t remember, then it was announced that for the summer of 2027, Arsenal had agreed moves to sign the teenage twins from Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle.

They are one of the finest production lines of talent in the whole of world football. The likes of Gonzalo Plata, Moises Caicedo, Piero Hincapie, Willian Pacho, Joel Ordonez and Kendry Paez have all come out their academy.

So, this is something to take notice of. Just 16 years of age, their acquisitions may not feel particularly special right now but the hype surrounding them is enormous and for good reason too.

Out of the two, Edwin would appear to be held in the most high regard and it said it all about his talent that earlier this month he scored on his first-team debut for IDV.

The goal was a beauty, dancing past two players before firing a low effort beyond the goalkeeper at his near post. During that game, he played just ten minutes as a substitute but made an almighty impact, taking two shots and completing three progressive carries, one every 3 and a bit minutes.

Like the aforementioned Barcola, Quintero is so good in tight spaces. That goal said it all, but he’s also an explosive carrier and a tricky dribbler. He may well play on the opposite side to the Frenchman but there are so many similarities to their play style.

As Como scout Ben Mattinson put it early last year when Edwin was still only 15, he is “so skilful and constantly uses flair to fool defenders and make smart passes. He has the ability to run games and create something out of nothing.” That certainly sounds like Barcola, doesn’t it?

Further adjudged to be one of very few young players in world football with 10/10 potential, alongside a certain Max Dowman, by scout Jacek Kulig, the future looks immensely bright for this teenage winger.