Arsenal handed chance to sign £46m “world-class” star

Arsenal’s disappointing season went from bad to worse last night.

Mikel Arteta’s side played host to Newcastle United in the first League Cup semi-final, which has become increasingly important as a result of their poor Premier League form, but instead of taking a first-leg lead, the Gunners were blown away by the visitors.

There were impressive performances across the pitch for the Toon, but the clear stand-out was Alexander Isak, who has been consistently linked with a move to the Emirates, and if yesterday’s game was an audition, he passed with flying colours.

However, signing the Swede in the summer, let alone this month, could cost the North Londoners a king’s ransom, so recent reports linking them to an alternative number nine shouldn’t be a massive surprise.

Arsenal target sublime striker

According to a recent report from Football Transfers, Arsenal have maintained their longstanding interest in Juventus marksman Dušan Vlahović and have been handed a new opportunity to sign him this month.

The report has revealed that due to the Serbian’s monster wage of around £352k-per-week and the lack of progress made in renegotiating a lower salary, the Old Lady are happy to sell him this month to avoid him leaving for less in the summer or worse yet, for free next year.

According to the report, this desire to get the towering striker off the books has seen the Turin outfit lower their asking price to just €55m this month, which works out to around £46m.

Now, that is still a sizable fee, and few people will argue that he’s on the exact same level as Isak, but given Vlahović’s impressive ability and output over the last few seasons, it could prove to be a bargain and one that allows the club to spend elsewhere to boot.

How Vlahović compares Isak

So, the first thing to say is that, in a perfect world where money was no object and Arsenal could land any striker in world football, we imagine most fans, and likely the club, would also go out and get Isak.

However, that is simply not how the transfer market works, and while the Gunners could perhaps sign the Swede this year, reports from earlier this month indicate that they would have to spend a mammoth £150m to do so, and considering Declan Rice is the club’s current record signing at £105m, that seems incredibly unlikely.

So, with Vlahović supposedly available for less than a third of that price, he seems like a realistic and brilliant alternative, especially as his recent form isn’t a million miles off the Toon star’s.

For example, in just 23 appearances this season, the “world-class” Serbian, as dubbed by journalist Siavoush Fallahi, has scored 12 goals and provided two assists, equating to an impressive average of a goal involvement every 1.64 games.

In comparison, the former Real Sociedad ace has scored 15 goals and provided four assists in 22 appearances, equating to a slightly better average of a goal involvement every 1.15 games, although it’s not £104m better.

Vlahović vs Isak 24/25
Player	Vlahović	Isak
Appearances	23	22
Goals	12	15
Assists	2	4
Goal Involvements per Match	0.60	0.86
All Stats via Transfermarkt

Moreover, while the Newcastle star is fantastically talented, he has a worrying injury record.

For example, since the start of his career, the Solna-born ace has missed 66 games through injury, whereas the Belgrad-born titan has missed just 26 games.

Ultimately, Isak is a simply sensational footballer, but at potentially £150m, it seems incredibly unlikely that Arsenal will sign him, especially when Vlahović is supposedly available for less than a third of that while only being marginally worse.

It might not be a move that makes the fans happy, but signing the Juventus star and using the £104m left over to invest in more wide players could be the smartest option for Arteta and Co.