A ‘wonderful’ Premier League player is now impressing the Arsenal scouting team as Mikel Arteta looks to rival interest at Manchester United and Man City for his transfer.
The Gunners are eager to invest once again when the window opens after bowing out of the Champions League. Chiefs at Emirates Stadium accept Arsenal are short in a few positions to give Arteta a complete side. Bayern Munich won the quarter-final clash 3-2 on aggregate.
Arsenal remain in contention to win the Premier League title this season with the close-knit team Arteta has built. The Spaniard has used 25 players over their 32 games to sit second in the table. But 15 have started 10 or more games and 13 have played for over 1,000 minutes.
Crystal Palace star Michael Olise is impressing the Arsenal scouting team
Arteta starting Bukayo Saka in 30 top-flight games has also enticed Arsenal to scout Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise. That is according to The Guardian, which reports that Gunners staff have marked the 22-year-old as a potential transfer target after positive scouting visits.
Olise has impressed the Arsenal scouting department, despite only starting in nine of his 13 Premier League outings. The London-born France talent started this season recovering from a hamstring injury and has sustained two subsequent hamstring injuries to limit his minutes.
READ MORE: How much Arsenal paid to sign every first-team player in the transfer market
All in, Olise has played just 839 minutes this term but boasts six goals and three assists for a goal involvement rate of once every 93 minutes. The 6ft dynamo, who Roy Hodgson called a ‘wonderful player’, can also leave Selhurst Park for £65m with a release clause this summer.
The clause becomes active at the end of the campaign to attract further interest in the top-flight. Arsenal face competition from Manchester United and Man City with the duo among their rival teams also following Olise closely. He also rejected a transfer to Chelsea last year.
Mikel Arteta wants Michael Olise as the Gunners need a backup for Bukayo Saka
Crystal Palace responded to Olise snubbing a transfer to Chelsea by giving him a new, four-year contract in August. Yet the release clause included in his terms is tempting Arsenal to track his form and fitness in view of securing Arteta a new attacking livewire for next term.
It was also Arteta who added Olise to Arsenal’s transfer wish list, according to reports from Dean Jones previously. The Spaniard is keen to sign a player who can push Saka and step in when needed, given the robust way that some defenders can deal with their Hale End hero.
Arteta can currently let Saka seldom skip a game as the 22-year-old is instrumental for how Arsenal play. He tops the Gunners’ charts for goals (14) and assists (8) in the top-flight. The England attacker further leads their charts for goals (18) and assists (13) in all competitions.