£25m Arsenal target is now moving elsewhere as Mikel Arteta misses out

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal have just made huge progress in a bid to sign Mikel Merino – but are about to face upset regarding another target.

At the time of writing, Arsenal have seen a £31.8m bid accepted by Real Sociedad for Merino – according to El Diario Vasco – with the Spain international now expected to head to London for his medical.

In the meantime – however – another player linked with Arsenal is also having a medical, but with a different club…

Arsenal miss out on Yaser Asprilla

A story from the Mirror (print version) claimed that Arsenal were keen to sign Yaser Asprilla this summer – after he lit up the Championship with Watford in the 2023/24 campaign.

It was said that the Gunners were considering a swoop for the Colombia international after he scored six goals and also provided seven assists in 44 Championship appearances last season.

Now – however – Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Asprilla is moving to Girona.

The Spanish side – who are part of the City Football Group umbrella alongside Manchester City, Troyes and others – are looking to replace Savinho after he moved to Pep Guardiola’s Citizens, and now seem to have found their man in the South American.

A story from The Athletic states that Asprilla will cost the UEFA Champions League outfit £25m.

Colombia international’s decision makes sense

While Asprilla would have been an exciting addition to Mikel Arteta’s squad, you can see why he chose to reject Arsenal in favour of Girona.

The Gunners already have a world class footballer who plays in the Colombian’s position – Bukayo Saka – so the man from Bajo Baudo would not have been a regular starter at the Emirates Stadium.

In contrast, there is a vacancy in Girona’s squad with his name all over it after Savinho joined Manchester City.

Therefore, nobody can begrudge Asprilla for making a smart career move, something that has actually become a rarity nowadays – a sentiment mainly aimed at those young talents who bizarrely keep signing up for whatever ‘project’ is going on at Chelsea.