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Arsenal to launch move to sign £9m star who would help solve winger issues

By on May 18, 2019

According to the Mirror, Arsenal are ready to launch a move to sign £9m-rated Lorient forward Alexis Claude-Maurice as Unai Emery looks to strengthen his attacking options this summer.

The boss is expected to be extremely active over the coming weeks and while a new centre-back and box-to-box midfielder are priorities, we also desperately need to add to our attacking ranks.

Arsenal have a distinct lack of pace out wide, which is something we have to resolve in the market this summer, and the Mirror claim Emery has identified Claude-Maurice as a potential target.

The newspaper says Arsenal scouts have kept a close eye on the Lorient attacker by making regular checks on him throughout the season and we’re now ready to launch a formal move to sign the 20-year-old.

Norwich were believed to be in pole position to sign Claude-Maurice after securing promotion to the Premier League but the Mirror claims Arsenal are now set to beat them to his signature by pushing to secure a potential £9m deal.

Claude-Maurice has been with Lorient his entire career after coming through their youth ranks and he’s developed into one of the most exciting young talents in French football after starring in Ligue 2 this season.

The youngster has scored 14 goals and provided a further 3 assists in his 31 appearances and he’s represented France at Under-20 level – which isn’t easy considering the huge pool of talent they have.

Claude-Maurice is comfortable playing out on either wing or through the middle so he’d give Emery a versatile option in attack and help give us something different in the final third.

Obviously he’s still young and won’t be a first team regular straight away but I think he’ll be seen as a replacement for Danny Welbeck – who’s leaving when his contract expires next month.

Emery is going to be operating on a tight budget this summer so we can’t expect many marquee signings, even if we do qualify for the Champions League by beating Chelsea in the Europa final.

Therefore, Claude-Maurice could be a shrewd piece of business by Arsenal if we can get a proposed £9m deal wrapped-up this summer and he’ll be in a similar mold to Matteo Guendouzi – who also arrived from Lorient in an £8m deal last year.