Arsenal round-up: Rafinha offered to club; Gazidis discusses academy; Manchester City starlet linked

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Arsenal will be hoping to sign a couple more players before the start of the new season and one of those could be Rafinha. Sky Sports report that the Gunners have been offered the chance to sign the Brazilian from Barcelona. The midfielder isn’t part of the Barcelona squad that has travelled to the USA as he currently recovers from a knee injury. It is believed that Los Cules would listen to offers that are over the €30 million, despite the club stating that he wouldn’t be sold last week.

The Brazilian international played over twenty times for the Spanish club last season, but he will be hoping to earn a regular first team spot elsewhere. It is beginning to look unlikely that he will be a key player for Barcelona and at the age of 24, it could be the right time for him to leave the Nou Camp. Rafinha is a dynamic centre midfielder, who would provide another creative option in the Arsenal squad. The Gunners missed Santi Cazorla massively last season and they need another player like him in the squad. If they did move for the Barcelona man, it would be a transfer that improved the squad.

A recent report commissioned by the Press Association revealed that 19.4% of Premier League minutes had been given up to six players who had come through Arsenal’s academy. No top flight achieved a higher percentage than that, which underlines the opportunities given to young players at the Emirates Stadium. The following quotes from Ivan Gazidis were reported by the Evening Standard:

“At Arsenal we’re very much driven by our values, like giving young people a chance,”

“Young players, sure, but all sorts of other things – youth programmes in Islington, which we’re now taking global. We’re working in the education of migrant children here in Beijing.”

These are encouraging quotes, as it is useful for a club to produce good players to provide depth to the first-team squad. At the level that Arsenal play at, it is difficult to produce your own players, but they are doing an excellent job. As well as producing players for your own first team, a top tier academy produces players that can be sold on for a profit. Brexit is fast approaching and English players are likely to continue raising value. The Gunners need to remain committed to investing in their academy.

Arsenal’s reputation at developing players allows them to cherry-pick the best talents from across the country. The Mirror report that they are one of the clubs that are ready to move for Jadon Sancho. Tottenham and RB Leipzig also have an interest in the 17-year-old. Manchester City are keen to keep the attacker at the club, but he has yet to sign a new contract and his future is in doubt.

Sancho is an England under-17 international and it would be a coup for Arsenal to bring him to North London. It would also give them the opportunity to get one over on their rivals. Arsene Wenger has always given young players a chance and Sancho will be attracted by that. He is unhappy at Manchester City due to there not being a clear pathway to the first-team. If they did sign Sancho, it wouldn’t take the headlines, but it would be a significant capture for the club.