Arsenal could look to secure an £18million deal for former Tottenham and Liverpool trialist Andreas Schjelderup who has been dubbed the 'next Erling Haaland'.
The Gunners spent over £100million for the second successive summer transfer window which saw the arrivals of Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner and Marquinhos. Technical director Edu will already be planning ahead for the upcoming transfer windows in 2023, with Arsenal expected to be targeting a new central midfielder and forward.
Jesus' move to the Emirates Stadium came after the Brazilian wanted to try a new challenge and play regular first team football following Manchester City signing Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, and the Norwegian striker has wasted little time in showing just what he is about. Mikel Arteta has his own talented Norwegian in the form of club captain Martin Odegaard but could look to add Schjelderup to his squad for under £20million.
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According to Calciomercato, Arsenal are among a number of clubs keeping tabs on the FC Nordsjaelland forward who has scored 14 goals and provided a further five assists in 51 appearances. The 18-year-old has already registered eight goal contributions in just 12 matches so far this season as he continues to develop his talent, with interest growing in the impressive youngster.
Schjelderup’s contract is set to expire in 2024 and Nordsjaelland are said to be willing to accept a fee in the region of £17.5million. GOAL compared the teenager to Jack Grealish, whilst journalist Dean Jones has said the young striker has “similar traits” to City star Erling Haaland.
Schjelderup had a choice in the summer of 2020; join one of Europe's elite academies or sign for a team where he could potentially be in the first team and continue his development at just 16-years-old. "I visited Ajax four times, PSV four times, Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, Fulham, Atalanta and Bayern Munich," the Norwegian talent explained to TV2.
"They (Nordsjaelland) are a club that has shown that they give young players a chance, and that they spend enormous resources on player development. It was very tempting with clubs from Italy, England and Spain. I'm a Liverpool fan myself, but I kind of did not want to be one in the crowd. It is a longer way to go to get into the first team at those clubs."
Arsenal could look to beat their rivals to the signing of Schjelderup as Mikel Arteta has shown he is willing to give younger players a chance in the first team. The Spaniard has relied on youth as he continues to build towards success at the Emirates Stadium, helped by the guidance of more experienced players such as Granit Xhaka.
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