da betway： Deep within the Emirates Stadium, the powers that be at Arsenal are churning away in the transfer room, devising plans and strategies to ensure that the seasonal purple patch is cemented for years to come, and Atalanta's Rasmus Hojlund could be the man to spearhead the new era.
da 888： According to Tutto Atalanta (via Sport Witness), Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has highlighted the young Dane as his prime target for summer, with the north London outfit looking to provide competition for £45m talisman Gabriel Jesus.
It is believed that Newcastle United are also mulling over a swoop, with the 20-year-old sharpshooter considered at €50m (£44m) by his suitors, who are reportedly 'willing to shell out' such a fee.
Arsenal had previously been heavily linked with a move for Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic, who has been touted with a move away from Turin amid the club's financial troubles, but these fresh revelations allude to a turn in track for the Premier League table-toppers.
How good is Hojlund?
Arsenal's seamlessly sensational season is the product of years of hard graft, with Arteta ignoring early criticisms and calls for his head as the club's wait for Champions League football drew on.
This year, a return to Europe's premier competition is all but confirmed, with the Gunners currently 22 points ahead of fifth-place Newcastle, and in order to sustain the success for years to come, a move for a talisman of Hojlund's ilk is indeed necessary.
Candidly, Arsenal do not need to part with a lucrative sum for the likes of Vlahovic, who signed for the Old Lady for £67m and would be unlikely to leave for less than £75m.
With this in mind, the youthful exuberance of Hojlund fits the agenda, and a swoop could be the perfect move ahead of the new campaign.
Hojlund has scored eight goals and provided two assists from just 25 appearances, including 14 from the starting line-up, and would be the perfect understudy to Jesus, providing a more clinical edge to the team, with the Brazilian flourishing as a more dynamic forward.
As per FBref, the prodigious hotshot also ranks among the top 1% of forwards across Europe's big five leagues for progressive passes received, indicating that he could even forge a deadly partnership with Jesus, who ranks among the top 6% of strikers for assists and the top 4% for shot-creating actions per 90.
With Hojlund preferring to bypass the opposing goalkeeper with his lethal left foot, Arteta could even unearth the Emirates' next Robin Van Persie, with the legendary Premier League striker scoring 144 goals and supplying 53 assists from 280 outings for the Gunners and Manchester United, whom he signed for acrimoniously in 2012 for £24m.
The retired Dutch striker also favoured his left foot, being hailed as "world-class" and "outstanding by Sir Alex Ferguson upon the completion of the transfer to the Red Devils; the boots to fill are big indeed for Hojlund, but if he arrives in north London at the maiden phase of his career to cement his stature and emulate someone of Van Persie's ilk, he could indeed reach the heights tantalised.
Hailed as a "scary quick" talent by journalist Sacha Pisani, Hojlund would indeed be an excellent choice from Arsenal's technical director Edu Gaspar to bolster the ranks, and given that he draws comparisons to Van Persie, it would be a crime not to attempt to secure his signature.