Reports have surfaced suggesting Borussia Dortmund new boy Jobe Bellingham has tried to lure an Arsenal star to the club alongside him.
Arsenal brought a pair of prodigiously talented youngsters into the first-team set up last season. Indeed, teenagers Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri made themselves look at home at the top level.
As a result of a pair of great first seasons, the Gunners moved to secure their talents to new deals. Lewis-Skelly signed his in late June, but Nwaneri’s has been more of a saga.
He had a pick of big sides if he didn’t want to pen a new deal with the Gunners, with Chelsea reportedly very keen on him, and with his contract expiring in 2026.
But it has recently been suggested that he has decided to sign an extension with Arsenal, for five years. What’s more, Nwaneri’s dad has denied reports that the forward was demanding more game time at the club.
The new signing is a blow to Borussia Dortmund, who had a secret weapon in their attempts to land Nwaneri.
According to Sky Sports Germany, Nwaneri was Dortmund’s ‘preferred’ attacking player, and there had been ‘intensive discussions’ over him in recent weeks.
Dortmund new boy Bellingham reportedly ‘tried to convince’ Nwaneri to join the German club. The pair have played England age-group football together, and Bellingam assisted Nwaneri’s first England under-21 goal in a 4-2 victory over Portugal.
After the game, Bellingham posted a picture of the pair together on social media, with the caption “my boy.”
The pair seemingly have a good relationship, and Dortmund were willing to pay approximately £26million to bring them together in the Bundesliga.
But Dortmund were not able to get him, and the new contract at Arsenal might have implications for potential moves there.
Indeed, they have been on the hunt for a new attacking midfielder, with Eberechi Eze and Xavi Simons on the radar. The Gunners are said to be ‘accelerating plans’ to land the former, while they are ‘attentive’ to the situation of the latter.
But reports have suggested that with fellow attacking midfielder Nwaneri penning a new deal, after nine goals and two assists last season, there is not quite as much of a need for Arsenal to recruit in the position.
It remains to be seen, though, whether they will indeed decide against signing a new star midfielder, given they’re said to feel they have the funds to follow Viktor Gyokeres and Cristhian Mosquera with another new player.
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