Arsenal come alive for signing of highly-rated full-back whose move could break a record

Arsenal are active in the transfer battle for Fenerbahce defender Ferdi Kadioglu, according to Turkish reports, but face competition from a reigning league champion and another obstacle in the form of his price tag.

Kadioglu has made a name for himself with Fenerbahce and despite being under contract there until 2026, could be ready to take the next step in his career this summer. In fact, Star claims it is practically a certainty that he will be on the move.

Right-footed but mainly a left-back, Kadioglu has caught the attention of Arsenal, who will be deploying scouts to watch him in action against Hatayspor in the Turkish Super Lig on Saturday.

However, Kadioglu will also be under observation by representatives from Napoli, the reigning Serie A champions who require a rebuild of sorts already after struggling to sustain their success from last year.

Napoli have Mathias Olivera and Mario Rui under long-term contracts at left-back still, but the latter is in his 30s, so they could rival Arsenal for someone approaching their prime instead like Kadioglu.

And for either of them to sign him, they may have to fork out a significant transfer fee, since Fenerbahce believe they can cash in on Kadioglu for more money than anyone else has ever received for a Turkish Super Lig player.

Funnily enough, the record is currently held by another full-back who left their arch-enemies Galatasaray in January: Sacha Boey.

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Bayern Munich signed Boey for €30m, which appears to be the minimum fee Fenerbahce are aiming for with Kadioglu. In other words, it would take Arsenal around £25.7m or more to tempt the Yellow Canaries into doing business.

Kadioglu would then take his place in the top five most expensive defenders Arsenal have ever invested in, along with Benjamin White, Shkodran Mustafi, Jurrien Timber and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

How would Kadioglu fit in at Arsenal?

The latter is probably the main player who would be affected by Kadioglu’s potential arrival, since he is the current main left-back – who often operates in an inverted role – at Mikel Arteta’s disposal.

When Zinchenko is unavailable, Arsenal have a lack of natural depth at left-back, especially after sending Kieran Tierney on loan to Real Sociedad for the season.

Kadioglu could address that, while also being able to provide cover on the opposite side of defence – where White and the versatile Takehiro Tomiyasu can also operate – by virtue of being right-footed.

He has also played further forward on the wing before too, although not so much recently. Indeed, this season he has made 36 appearances, 28 of which have been at left-back and eight at right-back.

The 24-year-old has scored twice in the process and made three assists, which means he now has an overall tally of 184 appearances, 16 goals and 20 assists for the club.

Before that, he earned his stripes in his country of birth, the Netherlands, with NEC Nijmegen, for whom he earned 70 appearances, scored 12 goals and made 16 assists.

Kadioglu represented the Netherlands at youth level all the way up to the under-21s – for whom he actually shared a pitch with Timber once – until he committed to the Turkish national team at senior level, going on to score once within his first 15 caps.

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