Arsenal reportedly failed with two moves for Marseille’s Maxime Lopez.
According to the Daily Star, Arsenal are unlikely to make a move for Marseille playmaker Maxime Lopez despite him being offered to two London rivals.
It’s claimed that Marseille are trying to cash in on Lopez, who has rejected a new deal at the club ahead of his contract expiring next summer.
That means Lopez is available for around £10million, and has been offered to Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United ahead of the transfer window.
Interestingly, it’s stated that Arsenal have twice tried to sign Lopez, but now aren’t planning to enter the race despite his availability.
The 22-year-old has been likened to former Marseille star Samir Nasri, and Arsenal’s interest likely pre-dates Mikel Arteta and possibly even Unai Emery given Arsene Wenger’s knowledge of French football.
Now though, this does seem to be the right decision. Lopez burst onto the scene as a teenager, but hasn’t really kicked on enough for Arsenal to now make a move.
In 146 games for Marseille, Lopez has only registered five goals and 21 assists; a ratio of a goal involvement every 5.6 games, which just isn’t good enough.
If Arsenal are to bring in another playmaker, it needs to be a player who can really challenge Mesut Ozil for the number 10 role, and Lopez just isn’t that calibre of player right now.
£10million is cheap, and if Arsenal just needed competition, it would make sense. Yet with Ozil’s long-term future unclear, Arteta would be better off saving his cash and maybe even go for an English playmaker like Eberechi Eze instead.
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