Pundit says £33.5m star Arsenal now want to sign is ‘as good as anyone’ in the PL in his role

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Stewart Robson has issued his verdict on Amadou Onana amid reports that Arsenal are interested in signing the Everton midfielder in the January transfer window.

The Gunners are one team who arguably needed the window. Mikel Arteta’s side have now lost their last three in all competitions. And it is one win in seven for the title chasers.

It is not clear how much business Arsenal can do. The move to sign David Raya on loan at the end of the summer transfer window suggested that the Gunners do not have huge amounts to spend.

Nevertheless, they continue to be linked with potential targets. In fact, Arsenal have apparently held talks over a possible move for Onana.

Stewart Robson backs Amadou Onana for Arsenal

It comes with the Gunners looking somewhat stale across the pitch, including in the middle of the park. Even Declan Rice has been struggling of late. Kai Havertz has also come in for criticism again after a bright spell in early December.

With that, Stewart Robson suggested on The Gab and Juls Show that he would be in favour of a move for Amadou Onana.

“It obviously says that Arteta, going back to our previous conversation, that he’s not happy with Rice, Havertz and Odegaard,” he said, when asked about the links.

“So he wants another, more dynamic player in there that probably hasn’t got the passing ability of Havertz, hasn’t got the passing ability of Odegaard, but is more of an up and down player, great energy, can close people down, can make forward runs, scores the odd goal here and there.

“So I think he could play alongside Rice, and Odegaard almost play as the number 10. I think that’s how he wants to go, Arteta. And Onana is as good as anyone in the Premier League at doing that.”

Interest in Everton midfielder unlikely to end this month

It would be a shock if Arsenal were able to bring Onana in from Goodison Park. They do not appear to have a huge amount to spend. And Everton are surely going to be looking to make a huge profit on the £33.5 million they spent to sign the Belgian.

But Arsenal do tend to keep targets on their radar for longer than one window. So Onana is likely to be a player they track beyond January.

It may be a name to keep an eye on in the summer. That is obviously not ideal heading into the second-half of the season. But there is little Arteta can do if he is working with a very limited budget for the time-being.