Three players Arsenal could sign to replace Alexis Sanchez in the summer
COMMENT By Danny Wright
Paris St. Germain are reported to be eyeing a swoop for Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal in the summer.
The Times claim that the French giants are looking at Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero as well, but that PSG director of football Patrick Kluivert thinks that Sanchez “may be a more attainable target”.
Sanchez has contributed to more goals than any other player in the Premier League this season with 15 strikes and eight assists, leaving some big boots to be filled.
With Arsenal struggling to find a reliable source of goals from anywhere else in their squad, a new big money signing who is as versatile and lethal as Sanchez would be needed if they lost their talisman.
Here, Football Insider have identified three players that could replace Sanchez this summer.
Dries Mertens
Napoli’s Belgian winger has been running riot in Serie A this season and his pace and goal-scoring threat would make him a perfect replacement for Sanchez.
The 29-year-old has scored 20 goals in 28 games in all competitions for Napoli this season, and added 10 assists.
Mertens has proved that he can step up in the Champions League too as well as in the league. He scored four goals and got four assists in the group stages this season.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
If Arsenal were to go all out when replacing Sanchez, this is the man they would go for.
The Borussia Dortmund attacker has an abundance of pace, skill and natural goal-scoring talent which would suit Arsenal perfectly.
As well as playing up front, the Gabonese attacker can also play on either wing, similar to Sanchez.
The 27-year-old refused to rule out a move away from Dortmund when asked about his future at the club in January.
He said: “I love it at Dortmund, but I can’t say that I’ll stay for two more years, or five or 10. It’s possible that a club could reach an agreement with Dortmund in June and I’ll go.”
Ivan Perisic
Although Perisic doesn’t play as a striker, this winger can certainly offer something to the Arsenal side if it was to lose Sanchez to PSG.
The Croatian offers an aerial threat as well as being fast on his feet. He has a certain directness to his style and loves to cut in from the wings to try and score.
The 28-year-old has scored seven goals in 22 Serie A appearances this season for Inter Milan. He also has five assists to his name with most of his good work coming when he is utilised on the left wing.
Although Perisic doesn’t supply as many goals as the other two players, he would definitely suit Wenger’s style of play and would complement the current squad quite well.
In other Arsenal news, Guillem Balague says this man should not be the next manager.
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