Premier League giants Arsenal are interested in Charlton Athletic’s highly rated midfielder Joe Aribo.
Charlton Athletic manager Lee Bowyer has confirmed that the club are desperate to tie down Joe Aribo to a new contract amid interest from Arsenal and Southampton, as reported by The Standard.
The 22-year-old has been hugely impressive for The Addicks this season, scoring six goals for the League One side with speculation intensifying that he could follow the likes of Carl Jenkinson, Ademola Lookman and Joe Gomez from The Valley to the Premier League.
Arsenal are keen to give Aribo a chance in the top flight, according to Football London. And The Gunners will be intrigued by the fact that former Charlton manager Karl Robinson once called him a young Patrick Vieira, speaking to the club’s official website.
But Robinson’s predecessor hasn’t given up hope of keeping one of the Football League’s most promising talents.
“We are trying our hardest to get Joe to sign a contract,” said former Newcastle and West Ham midfielder Bowyer.
“The speculation with Arsenal, if that is the case, shows we have done a good job with him. He was hardly playing last season, now he has got teams like Arsenal supposedly looking at him.”
“I’ve spoken to Joe on a number of occasions and he knows how we feel. We want him to sign not just for us.”
Aribo should be encouraged by the amount of faith Unai Emery has placed in young midfielders Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi this season with The Gunners fighting on both domestic and European fronts.
They are currently fourth in the Premier League and will face Napoli in the Europa League quarter-finals.
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