Having finally offloaded Mesut
Ozil inJanuary to Fenerbahce,
Arsenal have gone back to Real
Madrid to sign another midfield
playmaker and handed him the
number11 shirt. One of the best
players in La Liga during a loan
spell at Real Socided in 2019-20,
he was not rewarded with regular
footballonhisreturntoMadrid.
His potential is huge - as a
16-year-old, he was pursued by
half of Europe, including the
Gunners and Premier League
rivals Liverpool - and now he looks
ready to fulfil it. Alongside Bukayo
Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile
Smith Rowe, the Norwegian will be
part of an exciting and youthful
squad under Mikel Arteta.Martin ODEGAARD
REAL MADRID TO ARSENALJoakim MAEHLE
GENK TO ATALANTAWhen it comes to picking up
exciting young talents from
across Europe, few teams can
match Atalanta’s recent record.
So when they swoop for a€10m
23-year-old from the Belgian
league, it’s worth taking notice.
The Dane has quickly settled
in to challenge Hans Hateboer
for the right wing-back spot,
offering energy and attackingoutput, having already claimed
four assists for Genk this season.
Maehle joins Viktor Kovalenko
as a new arrival in Bergamo.
The Ukrainian has impressed at
Shakhtar Donetsk for several
years and was out of contract
in the summer, but agreed to
join Atalanta inJanuary for
around€700,000 – another
outstanding piece of business.Luka JOVIC
REAL MADRID TO
EINTRACHT FRANKFURTMoises CAICEDO
INDEPENDIENTE DEL VALLE TO BRIGHTONEvery report coming out of
Ecuador suggests that Brighton
have a serious talent on their
hands. The Seagulls spent most
ofJanuary working on a deal for
the19-year-old, who had been
in talks with Manchester United.
The sense is that the Red Devils
will be one of many clubs that
will be back in for Caicedo in
the future, although at a much
bigger price than the £4m
Brighton have just paid.
A Premier League relegation
battle may not be the ideal
environment for a South
American teenager to find his
feet in Europe, although the
box-to-box midfielder wasted
no time in settling in at
international level: he made
his Ecuador debut in 2020
and already has four caps,
three assists and a goal.From a purely financial
perspective, it is hard to find
a better piece of business:
Eintracht have re-signed their
most prolific player of the last
five years on loan, just18
months after selling him for
a club record fee
of€65m.
The Serbian wasted
no time in announcing
his return either,
scoring three times
off the bench in his
first three matches.
The problem for
coach Adi Hutter is
how to accommodate
Jovic alongside Andre
Silva – another lethal
goalscorer enjoying
an outstanding season- in his favoured
3-4-3 system.
Photo: @officialbhafc Instagram
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