Arsenal were tipped to bring Kevin Volland to the Premier League from Bundesliga giants Bayer Leverkusen in the January transfer window.
Arsenal dropped their interest in Bayer Leverkusen forward Kevin Volland after Mikel Arteta made it clear that he was far from convinced by the Germany international, according to ESPN.
In an alternative universe, Unai Emery is leading the Gunners into battle with Volland joining Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe in a front three full to the brim of pace, power and potency.
But the sacking of the Spanish coach in November 2019 not only ended Emery’s reign at the Emirates, it also put the buffers on a deal that would have seen one of the Bundesliga’s most underrated talents arrive in North London.
Sky claimed in December that Arsenal enquired about the £18 million winger-turned-forward ahead of the winter window, but those links disappeared as quickly as they emerged. And there is a very simple reason for that.
According to ESPN, Arteta told head of football Raul Sanllehi and technical director Edu that he wanted defenders rather than forwards.
Volland, who had failed to impress the ex-Manchester City coach, was suddenly off the agenda as Arsenal turned their attention to Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari instead.
In truth, Arsenal have a worrying recent history of signing players who are more ‘good’ than ‘great’ and Volland appears to fall into the former category.
The Leverkusen ace has hit double figures in each of the last three seasons at the Bay Arena, contributing 11 goals and nine assists this season alone, but it is hard to imagine that he would be capable of dragging Arsenal to a whole new level.
With his thumping finishes and ability to play all across the front line, there is little doubt that Volland could thrive in the Premier League, but maybe not for a club with the stature of Arsenal.
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