Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish put in a strong performance against Arsenal earlier on in the season, but his team still fell to a late defeat at the Emirates Stadium.
Kevin Campbell has urged Arsenal to sign Watford powerhouse Abdoulaye Doucouré and Aston Villa star Jack Grealish when the transfer window re-opens.
The former Gunners striker thinks Villa’s Grealish would be able to provide more than Mesut Ozil, from an all-round perspective, because he is more ‘box-to-box’ and he has that ‘added quality’.
Arsenal are struggling in the Premier League this season, with both Doucouré and Villa playmaker Grealish putting on strong individual performances when they played Unai Emery’s men this season.
Speaking to AFTV’s official YouTube account, Campbell thinks that both Doucouré and Grealish are needed by the club in January.
“Getting players in I think centre-half is so, so important, a quick player at the back, who can allow the defence to push up and mark tight to the halfway line and if there’s a ball over the top, he’s the first to it,” Campbell told AFTV.
“I think a holding midfield player is essential because there is some desention in the midfield. Players not playing in their so-called best positions and stuff like that. The likes of Doucouré at Watford. I think he’s been wasted there. He’s got the size, he’s got the power and he’s got the running power. I’d have him breaking stuff up in front of the back four.
“I would also go for a midfielder who can do box-to-box. Grealish is like a box-to-box player, but he’s got that extra added quality. The likes of Grealish or somebody like that. Mesut Ozil is still a quality player, but he hasn’t got both.”
It would be very hard to prise someone like Grealish away from Aston Villa, and given that Tottenham couldn’t lure him away from the club when they were in the Championship, it might take a hell of a lot of money to just get things moving.
As for Doucouré, it might be slightly easier to lure him away because he doesn’t have an association or connection to Watford like Grealish does with Villa. Plus, Watford’s current situation might help.
In the summer, Everton did try to secure the signature of the £30 million man, but the Merseyside club couldn’t get a deal done for the midfield powerhouse, as reported by The Guardian.
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