The prospect of leaving Barcelona red-faced will have each and every Arsenal fan rubbing their hands with glee.
The Kings of Catalonia do not have too many loyal subjects in the red half of north London after all, although you would expect nothing different considering that Barca have spent much of the 21st century picking away at the Gunners squad.
Dutch wing-wizard Marc Overmars and French midfielder Emmanuel Petit set the tone when they swapped Highbury for the Camp Nou in the year 2000. And, over the next two decades, Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song and Thomas Vermaelen would follow in their footsteps.
With Barca director Eric Abidal confirming the La Liga champions’ interest in a certain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal are bracing themselves for another assault this summer.
Yet if the so-called ‘new David Silva’ evolves into one of the most influential midfielders in Europe in the English capital over the next few years, Arsenal could at least claim some measure of revenge on a club who have made pillaging north London something of an annual tradition.
According to the Mirror, Mikel Arteta has identified Valencia’s Carlos Soler as the man capable of easing the creative burden on Mesut Ozil’s sloping shoulders.
Soler is not only one of the rising stars of Spanish football, he is also a player who slipped through Barcelona’s net.
“I had never seen him play, I did not know who he was, but I said to myself, ‘this guy is very good’,” Pepe Serer, a former Barcelona director, tells SuperDeporte.
“I was then working for Barça and I did not hesitate, I made a scouting report that said he had to be signed. I put a lot of weight on Soler. Barça could have signed him for a million euros (£900,000k) and they didn’t.”
Just to pour some salt into the wounds, it was Soler who inspired Valencia to Copa del Rey glory 12 months ago with Los Che ending their 11-year trophy drought against Lionel Messi and co at the Estadio Benito Villamarin.
The prospect of Arsenal snapping up the 23-year-old wouldn’t quite make up for the high-profile departures of Fabregas, Henry and co. But sometimes it’s just nice to win one.
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