Arsenal gunning for ‘world-beating’ striker rated as next British transfer record signing in summer

Arsenal are reportedly keeping tabs on Brighton striker Evan Ferguson ahead of the summer, with the 19-year-old rated by the Seagulls at a British record fee.

The Gunners have been linked with some world-class strikers in recent months. Indeed, the list includes: Victor Osimhen, Viktor Gyokeres, Ivan Toney and Dusan Vlahovic.

It’s not difficult to see why Arsenal are gunning for a new striker signing.

Indeed, while they have scored the second-most goals in the Premier League this season with 62, those have been shared around all areas of the pitch.

Bukayo Saka is the only man to have surpassed 10 goals for Mikel Arteta’s side this season, and central strikers Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah have 14 goals between them in all competitions – four Premier League strikers have more than that in the league alone.

As such, adding a top striker could round the team out, and ensure the Gunners are beating teams by bigger margins, and generally proving a very hard side to defend against.

With that said, Arteta has added another name to his list of strikers.

Indeed, according to Football Insider, Arsenal are ‘keeping tabs’ on Brighton striker Ferguson.

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Arsenal want Ferguson

The report suggests that the club are looking at multiple centre-forwards who can slot into the team next season.

Ferguson is seen as one of those, and is making his way towards the top of the shortlist.

He’s very much shown that he can perform in the Premier League in his as yet short career. He scored six goals and provided two assists in a 19-game stint in his first top-flight campaign last season, and had four cup goals in six games alongside that.

This term, he started off in electric fashion, netting four goals in the first four games of the season, including a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over last season’s fourth-placed side Newcastle.

While things have slowed since then, he’s not going to have just lost his touch, and his qualities mean he could prove to be a very useful striker.

That he’s only six feet tall is deceptive, as Ferguson puts himself about like a big man, and has explosive power and speed, which puts defenders under duress when facing him.

Arsenal see Ferguson as world-beater

There is no suggestion in the report on the price Arsenal would be willing to pay for the striker.

However, they see him as a ‘huge talent’ and believe he’s capable of playing in the Champions League and developing into a ‘world-beating no.9’.

That said, it would not be a surprise if they paid top dollar in order to land him.

That could see them break the British transfer record of £115million, as reports have previously suggested Brighton could look for in excess of the fee Chelsea paid them for Moises Caicedo last summer.

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