Transfer News:
Arsenal are in the process of starting a new era under Unai Emery and the manager too will surely try to make some crucial and much-needed changes to the squad. The North London club has been battling mediocrity for a couple of years now and need to make some dire changes in order to ensure that they maintain their status as that of a top English club. The club made some ambitious signings last season by luring Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (through a swap deal) and that signals that they might go after certain ambitious targets this time around too.
The latest report from the Daily Mail states that they are interested in signing Lucas Vazquez from Real Madrid. Lucas, part of the travelling Spain squad in the World Cup now, has been particularly impressive in the past couple of years. His influence and development got boosted under the tutelage of Zinedine Zidane, as the French manager trusted him to start important games, or come off from the bench to leave an impact on the match.
Vazquez: Player Profile
Lucas is primarily a wide-player with an abundance of pace and hence he is quite influential while playing on the wings. His ability to dribble past opponents with some good footwork and then to send a neat, mean cross into the box makes him quite a useful player for Real Madrid. His pace adds a lot of energy on the flank and Vazquez can play centrally too according to the demands of the game. In addition, his work-rate is something that sets him apart from his adversaries.
Vazquez is always keen to drop back to win the ball and can be deployed in deeper positions with regards to the situation. In the second leg against PSG in the Round of 16, Lucas played as a right winger, whose first job was to provide defensive cover to the marauding Dani Carvajal. Against Bayern Munich in the semis, Lucas was used as a makeshift right-back and this just goes on to highlight the versatility and commitment of the lad. He scored four goals and assisted seven times in the La Liga last season, capping off a good season from both an individual and the team’s perspective.
Should Arsenal make a move?
Arsenal will be interested but Lucas might not want to leave Real Madrid for a club salvaging its pride through the Europa League. At Real, Vazquez’s importance has increased with him becoming an integral member of the squad. Lucas started Spain’s match against Iran and that shows the prominence that he has acquired whilst playing for the UEFA Champions League winners. Moving away from his home country for a club languishing and fighting hard to instil stability would not be something that the lad would be interested in doing at this stage of his career.
Stats Courtesy: Whoscored