Premier League giants Arsenal and West Ham United have joined Inter Milan in the race to sign Eintracht Frankfurt’s Bundesliga flyer Filip Kostic, according to Calciomercato.
There is one London-based giant for whom Kostic looks simply tailor-made.
An old-school, chalk-on-the-boots, left-footed-left-winger, the Serbia international would tick a lot of boxes as far as Antonio Conte is concerned.
Kostic has, after all, produced 10 assists in just 22 games from his wing-back role at Frankfurt this season. He even scored a thumping long-range winner against Bayern Munich in October, the sort of angled, arrowed shot that Kostic has made his trademark during eight years in Germany’s top flight.
Having turned 29 in November, however, the late-blooming Kostic is running out of time if he wants to make his mark at the very top of the European game.
Could Arsenal or West Ham land Filip Kostic?
It’s feels somewhat unfortunate that one of the Bundesliga’s most prolific creative talents remains largely unknown on English soil.
That could soon change, however, with Calciomercato reporting that the former Hamburg and Stuttgart wideman has admirers at Arsenal and West Ham.
There is no indication yet that Tottenham are interested – Spurs appear to be prioritising on another lung-busting winger in the shape of Adama Traore – but Kostic could still fit in nicely at the Emirates or the London Stadium.
Those stylistic similarities with Kieran Tierney suggest that Kostic could thrive on the Arsenal left, dovetailing beautifully with the inverted Emile Smith Rowe.
West Ham, meanwhile, are in the market for a new left-sided player and the 43-cap forward could take the Premier League by storm in claret-and-blue, especially if David Moyes utilises him in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
According to Tuttosport, Frankfurt could cash in for as little as £9 million with just over a year left on his contract.
“Filip Kostic is the best forward in the Bundesliga,” Frankfurt legend Jurgen Grabowski said of the Inter Milan target in 2020.
“When I read that he should cost £25 million… that’s a joke! He’s worth at least £50 million!”
One of the most potent chance-creators in the whole of Europe, Planet Sport point out that only one player produced more assists than Kostic in 2021 (22) – Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller.
That puts him ahead of Lionel Messi, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kevin de Bruyne and more.
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