Arsenal are set to battle out with both Italian Serie A club SS Lazio and fellow London rivals Chelsea FC to secure the signature of Turkish international midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu, according to Turkish newspaper Aksam as quoted by Sky Sports.
The 23-year old Bundesliga playmaker has a £32.5 million release clause in his contract, according to the Sky Sports report.
Lazio who look to build on their fifth-place finish in Serie A this season is seemingly very much interested in securing the deal for the 23-year old as they have European football in the form of the UEFA Europa League next season. Meanwhile Arsenal’s London rivals and defending Premier League champions Chelsea also are reportedly interested in signing the Turkish attacking midfielder.
Calhanoglu is a player with the technique, performance, aptitude and capacity that suits the kind of extensive, passing and possession-based game that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has always followed at Arsenal since the very beginning. Hence the 67-year old French manager would be pretty excited to have a player of Hakan’s caliber at his disposal.
He can play between the lines and is deadly with his right footed free-kicks. Thus the Emirates stadium can witness some wonderfully constructed goals if the deal for Hakan does go through in the end.
He bagged 7 goals & 7 assists in 22 games in all competitions this season, but he had to miss around 4 months of the recently concluded campaign after being found guilty of breaching a contract he had previously agreed with Turkish club Trabzonspor back in 2011 as highlighted by BBC Sport.
Hakan Calhanoglu is primarily an attacking midfielder but can also play on the wings or in midfield (preferably on the left side). Since making the switch from fellow German club Hamburger SV to Bayer Leverkusen in July 2014, Calhanoglu has bagged 28 goals & 29 assists in 115 appearances in all competitions for his club. He has also scored 8 times and assisted 2 times in 27 games for the Turkey national football team since making his debut in September 2013 when he was just 19 years old.
On the other hand, Wenger is heading into a must-win 2017/18 Premier League season amidst all the ‘Wenger Out’ claims from a large section of Gooners around the world. Hence he must be spot-on with his decisions and secure sensible and quality signings in this summer transfer window before it is too late.
