According to Calciomercato, Arsenal and Manchester City are set for a transfer battle to sign Barcelona target Alex Grimaldo in January.
What’s the story?
Well, the Italian news outlet believe Juventus are also interested in signing the £26,471-a-week man.
Grimaldo becomes a free agent in July 2023, and despite the fact he is one of their best players, Benfica are willing to sell him in January as they aim to avoid losing him for nothing.
That has alerted Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola and Xavi to the situation, with the Gunners and the Citizens still on the lookout for new left-backs despite signing Oleksandr Zinchenko and Sergio Gomez respectively.
Barcelona also signed Marcos Alonso from Chelsea over the summer, but Xavi clearly wants more depth in his left-back department as well.
Roger Schmidt considers Grimaldo to be a vital player amongst his squad at Benfica, a feeling reinforced by the fact he has already registered four goal involvements from left-back this season in just 12 appearances.
The Spaniard is the perfect modern day full-back, one who can make an impact in the final third on a regular basis.
For example, in 48 appearances last season, Grimaldo amazingly scored six goals while also providing nine assists, an attacking return which most forwards would be proud of, let alone a defender.
Arsenal should be prepared to leave Grimaldo to Manchester City or Barcelona
In our view, Arsenal shouldn’t put too much effort into signing Grimaldo this January if a bidding war commences.
Arteta already has Kieran Tierney to compete with Zinchenko at left-back, so it wouldn’t make sense to spend millions fending off Manchester City and Barcelona for another option.
The Gunners also have Nuno Tavares as a left-back option, although the Portugal Under-21 international is currently on loan at Marseille for the 2022/23 campaign.
Of course, if Manchester City and Barcelona decide not to submit any bids, and Grimaldo is available for under £10m given his contract situation, Arsenal should try their luck.
However, if his value soars beyond that figure due to a bidding war, Arsenal must be prepared to walk away.
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