Ze Luis has been offered to Arsenal but, according to former Lokomotiv Moscow manager Ravil Sabitov, it is ‘almost impossible’ that the striker will be offered a chance at the Premier League giants.
If Arsenal supporters were hoping that the January transfer window would be used to beef up Mikel Arteta’s roster, adding some much-needed depth while boosting their chances of securing Champions League qualification, then they were very much mistaken.
Not only did the London giants miss out on their number one target – Dusan Vlahovic took just 13 minutes to open his scoring as a Juventus player last weekend – Arteta’s squad actually looks weaker now than it did on December 31st.
Out the door went Pablo Mari, Calum Chambers, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Sead Kolasinac and Folarin Balogun. Mohamed Elneny nearly departed too.
The loss of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, meanwhile, leaves Arsenal without a reliable goalscorer with three months of the season remaining.
Alexandre Lacazette, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah have scored fewer goals between them than Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis has all on his own.
A damning statistic. And a potentially ruinous one, as far as a return to Europe’s top table is concerned.
Will Arsenal really sign Ze Luis?
Sensing an opportunity to secure a once-in-a-lifetime, Odion Ighalo-esque move for his client, Ze Luis’ agent has made contact with Arsenal to enquire about whether they’d be interested in a 31-year-old centre-forward available on a free and desperate for a fresh start (TEAMtalk).
“The transfer of Ze Luis to Arsenal is almost impossible,” Sabitov explains.
“From Russia to England, the level of the championships is completely different. And Ze Luis falls short of the Premier League in terms of his level.
“But anything can happen in life. There is a game of agents who can make an unexpected contract for a football player.”
Ze Luis, who was linked with a move to Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United in 2019, helped fire Spartak Moscow to Russian Premier League glory in the 2016/17 season.
He’s struggled for form since then, however, and saw his contract at Lokomotiv terminated in January.
Who will replace Aubameyang?
“The best period in Ze Luis’ career was when he played for Spartak,” Sabitov adds. “There he won the Russian championship, was in good form and helped the team a lot. But he has not developed.
“Ze Luis’ return to the RPL showed that he was not in great demand on the international market. And Lokomotiv, unfortunately, is not Barcelona or Real Madrid. That is, not a top club from which, conditionally, one could go from to Arsenal.”
With the window shut, Arsenal must wait until the summer before moving for Dominic Calvert-Lewin or an Alexander Isak.
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