Our resident Arsenal fans here in the Football Transfer Tavern have recently been talking about how clashes with Manchester United seem to have gone soft but the same can’t be said about fixtures with Chelsea.
You feel this London rivalry is growing in nastiness by the day with Jose Mourinho still finding enough times in the season to taunt Arsene Wenger while Gunners fans grow sick to their stomach with Chelsea’s different ways of winding up their North London rivals with Cesc Fabregas in toe too.
As far as this summer’s transfer window goes, while Arsenal and Chelsea may be rivals both on and off the field, they haven’t so frequently been linked with the same transfer targets.
Arsenal have been heavily linked with the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin, Petr Cech and Jackson Martinez while Chelsea have been linked with finishing touch-type signings such as Moussa Sissoko, Felipe Anderson and Toby Alderweireld.
Nevertheless, with the tabloids trying their very best to link as many players with England’s elite clubs throughout the duration of the summer, we’ve managed to whittle down a list of transfer targets to a total of five who both the Gunners and Blues might be fighting over this summer.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 players Arsenal and Chelsea will fight over this summer.
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Youri Tielemans
Forget the outstanding Eden Hazard for one second; it is this guy – Youri Tielemans – who is considered the next great thing to come out of Belgian football.
Arsenal faced the sprightly attacking midfielder in the Champions League this past season on two occasions whereby the Gunners faced Anderlecht in the group stage and Tielemans looked befitting of the occasion despite his slender 18 years.
The youngster has just managed to secure a place in Marc Wilmots’ star-studded senior international Belgium squad and this status alone has got Europe’s biggest clubs sniffing more than they have ever done previously.
Although the speculation regarding Tielemans’ future has subsided of late, back in April, The Express claimed how the Gunners and Blues are facing an intense battle to land the starlet from Atletico Madrid who had been reported to have made “definite progress” in their pursuit of the Belgian.
With Chelsea and Arsenal boasting a large number of riches in the attacking midfield positions at present, if Tielemans was signed, you’d imagine that a loan back to Anderlecht could be a likely scenario.
Joe Gomez
Another player who is set for a big future in the game is Charlton Athletic’s Joe Gomez who made 21 appearances in the Addicks’ first team in the Championship this past season despite being just 18-years-old.
We’ve seen the likes of Carl Jenkinson emerge from Charlton’s academy in recent times and the latest big talent is Gomez who can be deployed at full back as well as centre half.
Standing at 6 ft 2 in, Gomez is a domineering presence and destined to be a Premier League footballer at some point of his career.
That status could come sooner rather than later as well with Metro having claimed that Charlton are willing to listen to offers for their rising star.
Manchester City are also mooted as a potential destination for the £8 million rated talent and our Arsenal regulars claim that he’d find first team opportunities easier to come by at their club in the next couple of years rather than at Chelsea, and this is hard to disagree with.
Ayoze Perez
Rather surprising transfer speculation of late has surrounded the potential transfer of Newcastle United’s Ayoze Perez to either Arsenal or Chelsea, as reported by The Sun.
The publication claims new Magpies boss Steve McClaren faces a battle to keep one of the few success stories in a dour 2014/15 campaign at St James’ Park with Ayoze having been accelerated in his development since signing from Tenerife last summer.
Arsenal fans are rolling their eyes at this rumour and claiming that while Ayoze is a decent prospect, he still isn’t that big name world class centre forward that is required to battle with Olivier Giroud while delivering a Premier League title.
Chelsea fans are also sceptical regarding this rumour and admit that while Ayoze could be a decent reserve option, they would rather a bigger name to replace the departed Didier Drogba.
Gonzalo Higuain
A truly world class striker who both Arsenal and Chelsea are reportedly trailing this summer is Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain who is likely to be on the move in the coming months.
Having watched Rafael Benitez flee to manage Real Madrid, Higuain is likely to follow the Spaniard out of Stadio San Paolo but as for his future whereabouts, that remains anybody’s guess.
Only this week, Manchester United had reportedly agreed terms with the Argentine forward but these headlines are now being conflicted by a story from Metro which today claims Higuain is set to join Arsenal.
The fresh rumour has been sparked by former Napoli player Jose Alberti who is reported as saying he is “90% sure” the player will be joining the Gunners.
This hasn’t stopped journalists linking Chelsea to the forward either however. At the start of the week, we read in The Mirror that Chelsea were plotting a £30 million raid for the striker.
This is a story that will run and run you feel.
Asmir Begovic
If all of the reports are true, everything seems to point towards Chelsea’s Petr Cech joining Arsenal in the next few weeks.
But it is at this moment that one Arsenal supporting punter reminds us that Gonzalo Higuain was pretty much a done deal back in the summer of 2013 only for the Argentine striker to stun everybody while signing for Napoli instead.
At the end of the day, a deal isn’t done until a player signs on the dotted line and if Jose Mourinho and Chelsea are to dig their heels in over Cech and prevent him from joining a Premier League title rival for next season, the Gunners will need to revisit the drawing board.
You can’t imagine that Cech – who is settled in London – will be moving abroad however and Manchester United are still being mentioned as a potential destination so if the Czech stopper was to arrive at Old Trafford, Arsenal would have to amend their search, as would Chelsea for a new number two.
If this series of rather long-winded events came to pass, perhaps it would be only then that Chelsea and Arsenal could potentially clash over the availability of Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.
Last month, The Telegraph reported how Begovic could be a viable option for Chelsea and with Arsenal having also admired the Bosnian international in the past, a battle could realistically take place.
