I recently waxed lyrical about Unai Emery’s impact at Arsenal during his first season in charge at The Emirates.

The Spanish coach has done a great job in getting The Gunners back on track and he’s managed to get the best out of his squad.

But with that being said I also pointed out that the Arsenal gaffer needs to bring in a new right winger to give his team better balance and an attacking outlet on that flank.

Quite a few of the Arsenal side have been given the opportunity to make that position their own but none of them have managed to do that!

So I think Emery will need to bring in a new recruit for that role when the transfer window reopens in the summer.

When looking at The Gunners and their potential recruitment policy, I’d fully expect Arsenal to look for young talented players with potential and that are ready to prove themselves by stepping up a level, rather than the costlier option of buying ready made world class stars.

If that is indeed the case, then they might take a look at Stade Rennais FC forward Ismaila Sarr.

The twenty-one year old Senegalese internationalist has played in twenty-seven Ligue 1 games this season and in a further nine Europa League fixtures. In those thirty-six matches; Sarr has managed to score nine goals, create eight assists, make around 2 shots per game and 1.6 successful dribbles (Source – Whoscored).

He’s done that by playing the majority of his football on the right wing!

Arsenal witnessed Sarr’s ability up close and personal, when he scored in his side’s 3-1 home win over The Gunners in the Europa League. In that game Ismaila completed two dribbles, had a 78% passing success rate and hit four shots at Petr Cech’s goal.

Now the Premier League giants may have eventually won the tie over Rennes but Sarr’s quality would have made the Gunners scouting team sit up and take notice.

Ismaila Sarr possess electrifying pace, has great close control and loves to dribble beyond opponents. He’s the type of wide player that would get the Arsenal support off of their luxurious seats.

He’s a young player that knows how to score and has an eye for an assist.

I’m not the only one that thinks Emery should check out the Senegalese attacker.

The Sun reported recently that Gunners legend and former French winger Robert Pires also believes Sarr has plenty of potential:

“He has the profile to evolve at the Gunners and would adapt quickly to the way of play wanted by Unai Emery.”

“He’s a wide player, a dribbler who runs fast and is able to score.”

In that same article, a fee of £20m is being mentioned as what Rennes would want for the youngster.

That’s the kind of price that would really appeal to Arsenal.

Gunners manager Unai Emery has a history of bringing in young talent for a fair price and developing those players into top stars.

Personally, I think the Spaniard could do something similar with Ismaila Sarr if they were to purchase the winger!

Posted on March 18th, 2019 by scott
Filed under: Article