Darren Bent believes Yves Bissouma is the Premier League midfielder Arsenal should prioritise, telling talkSPORT (11 January, 9.50am) that the Brighton and Hove Albion star is ‘gettable’.
In many ways, Bissouma is everything Arsenal thought they were getting when Thomas Partey arrived for a cool £50 million a year-and-a-half ago.
While the former Atletico Madrid enforcer has struggled to stamp his authority on England’s top flight – rating his own performances a 4/10 thus far – Bissouma has gone from strength-to-strength over the same period.
So much so that, according to The Athletic, Arsenal would have to part with another £50 million outlay if they want to reunite the Mali international with his former Brighton team-mate Ben White at the Emirates.
Nonetheless, Bent believes this would represent good value for money, choosing Bissouma ahead of the likes of Ruben Neves when asked to name a Premier League midfielder who would be tailor-made for Mikel Artetra’s upwardly-mobile side.
Would Yves Bissouma be perfect for Arsenal?
“I would like to see Arsenal go and get Yves Bissouma from Brighton. I really like him, I think he’s a top, top player,” says Bent, the Gunners-supporting former Tottenham Hotspur striker.
“I think he’s gettable as well. Him and Partey in the middle of the park… that’s what you call protection of the back four! You can let the likes of (Emile) Smith Rowe and (Martin) Odegaard bomb forward.
“Bissouma is going to turn into a top, top player in this league. He can be box-to-box but if you ask him to sit there, he’s comfortable in possession.”
Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to second-tier Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round certainly highlighted Arteta’s lack of depth in central midfield, with teenager Charlie Patino forced into a maiden first-team start due to the absences of Partey, Granit Xhaka and new Roma signing Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Bruno Guimaraes of Lyon has been linked with the Gunners recently. But, on Monday night, he appeared to distance himself from a potential mid-season switch to North London.
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