Mikel Arteta tells Arsenal to sign 21-year-old Barcelona star to complement Martin Zubimendi: Reports
Mikel Arteta reportedly wants Arsenal to sign midfielder Marc Casado from Barcelona. The manager sees the 21-year-old as the perfect addition to the squad to complement Martin Zubimendi.
As per a report in El Nacional, Arsenal are launching a €40 million bid to sign Casado this summer. They believe that the midfielder can be lured away if they offer him enough game time with the first team.
The 21-year-old played just under 2500 minutes for Barcelona last season in his 36 appearances in all competitions. He is keen on playing more and was advised by former La Masia coach Oscar Lopez to push for Frenkie de Jong's spot. Lopez had said (via Barca Blaugranes):
"Healthy competitiveness in positions is a very positive thing. De Jong has taken an important step forward in part because of the level offered by Casadó and that made him get his act together.
"And what this healthy competitiveness ends up producing is that the team improves. If the players understand it well and 'bite' to be starters, the team wins. Now it's Casadó's turn around. De Jong is in the situation of Casadó from a few months ago and Marc is going to have to grit his teeth."
Arsenal reportedly have a deal in place to sign Christian Norgaard and Martin Zubimendi this summer. The two midfielders are seen as replacements for Jorginho, who has already left the club, and Thomas Partey, whose contract expires at the end of the month, respectively.
Arsenal target is a future Barcelona captain, claims former coach
Former La Masia coach Oscar Lopez was talking to SPORT earlier this month and backed Marc Casado to become a Barcelona captain. He heaped praise on the youngster and said that the midfielder has the mentality to be successful. He said (via Barca Blaugranes):
"Marc Casadó is a Barça fan. He is a great fan of the club as it happens with many other players in the academy. The feeling of belonging to a club is fundamental. You can sign good players but when the level is similar stay with the house players because they give you a special extra. With less money, the academy players are delighted and offer you something more on the pitch and off it.
"Casadó is a perfect example of what we are talking about. In the Juvenil A I saw him worry a lot about defeats that we suffered because he understood that they were not good for the desired promotion to the first team. You always learn from defeats, but I always say that I see Casadó as a future captain of Barça."
The Arsenal target played regularly when Frenkie de Jong was injured, but saw his minutes reduced after the Dutchman returned to the first team.
