Soccer Football - LaLiga - Real Valladolid v Real Madrid - Estadio Jose Zorrilla, Valladolid, Spain - December 30, 2022 Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior in action with Real Valladolid's Ivan Fresneda REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
Gianluca Di Marzio believes Arsenal are leading the race to sign young right-back Ivan Fresneda this month.
The Lowdown: Second singing on the way
After a long and ultimately fruitless pursuit of Mykhailo Mudryk, Arsenal moved quickly to finally make a breakthrough in the transfer market by signing Leandro Trossard.
It looks as if Arsenal and Edu are finally getting into gear this transfer window having brought in Trossard and Polish defender Jakub Kiwior, while Cedric is seemingly close to leaving the club for Fulham on loan – and now they appear frontrunners to sign Fresneda.
Given Cedric is reportedly closing in on a move to Craven Cottage, it would make sense that Arsenal are thought to be close to bringing in a potential replacement in Fresneda, which will see the Gunners beat the likes of Newcastle United and Borussia Dortmund to his signature if they can pull it off.
The Latest: Arsenal closing in on Fresneda
Di Marzio insisted live on Sky Sports that Arsenal have seemingly taken the lead to sign Fresneda, although he did indeed name-drop Newcastle as potential rivals, so the deal isn’t a foregone conclusion.
He said: “Fresneda is a very, very good player of Real Valladolid in Spain. Arsenal is leading the race, even Newcastle too, but Arsenal is leading the race for Fresneda.”
The Verdict: Gunners looking for depth
It would be a great deal for Arsenal given they would have beaten a high-flying Premier League rival to a very exciting and talented right-back that may even be able to start immediately given he’s been doing so out in La Liga this season.
Fresneda is certainly an exciting prospect out in Spain, having been labelled as ‘beastly‘ by journalist Juan Arroita due to his immense crossing ability that has been on show this season, despite still being just 17 years old at the time.
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The youngster is now 18 but wouldn’t naturally come into an Arsenal squad leading the Premier League and command regular minutes, but with first-team games already under his belt this term, he could be a suitable deputy for Mikel Arteta to call upon if either Ben White or Takehiro Tomiyasu were to pick up knocks.
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