It turned out to be a somewhat awful January transfer window for Mikel Arteta and Edu at Arsenal.
The Gunners enjoyed such a promising start following genuine speculation about signing players like Arthur Melo and Dusan Vlahovic.
However, as the days ran on, it became clear that Arsenal weren’t going to sign either of them, unfortunately for the excited fanbase in North London.
With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of the picture at the Emirates Stadium, and ultimately having his contract terminated on deadline day, the priority for Arteta and Edu was to sign a top-drawer marksman, something that they failed to achieve in January.
Once Vlahovic and Alexander Isak were pies in the sky, Espanyol hitman Raul de Tomas was suddenly a target.
The Spanish outfit confirm that Arsenal had made contact for the 27-year-old on deadline day.
However, Sport have revealed that the player’s £59 million release clause was a major deterrent.
The good news is that Sport also report that Arsenal could get a second crack at the whip of signing De Tomas this summer, with the next transfer window likely to be ‘another story’.
For all the excitement regarding Isak, De Tomas is absolutely thumping him in the goalscoring stakes this season.
De Thomas has netted 12 Primer Liga goals, a whopping eight more than the Sweden international has managed thus far in the same competition.
Isak is only 22, five years younger than De Tomas, but there’s no doubt that the latter is the more polished goalscorer right now and Arsenal are right to be reportedly looking at him.
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