Arsenal receive transfer vindication from unlikely source as rival player hails ‘best in the world’

Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has hailed a reported Arsenal transfer target as “one of the best in the world in his role”.

Arsenal have been one of the most surprising sides in the Premier League so far this season. Indeed, the Gunners currently sit top of the table, having dropped points in only two games.

Things had looked up last season; despite Mikel Arteta’s side finishing fifth, they battled at the top end for much of the season.

As such, more improvements have allowed them to surpass expectations, to find themselves right at the top.

The north London outfit are playing very good football, and their star players are performing to a great standard.

The quality each player possesses is clear to see. There is a lot of talent in pretty much every position, and a lot of those players have only been recruited over the past few years.

Indeed, captain Martin Odegaard, whose influence is clear as day, joined permanently in 2021. So too did goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale – who has kept six league clean sheets in 13 games so far – as well as another impactful defensive player, Ben White.

One of the better pieces of business in the Premier League over the summer was Gabriel Jesus. The Gunners signed the four-time Premier League winner from Manchester City for around £45million.

That decision was immediately vindicated, as the Brazilian contributed to five goals in the first three league games this season. To this point, he has been directly involved in 12 goals in all competitions.

Midfield target Valverde talked up by rival

Over the summer, Arteta plotted further transfers to the ones he did manage to make. One of the main positions it seems he wanted to improve was the midfield.

Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz was seen as a top player to add to the side. Multiple bids were sent to the Villans, though they held firm, and kept their man.

While the midfield has been strong this season at Arsenal, it seems they are still keen to improve it. Ruben Neves, Youri Tielemans and Federico Valverde have all been linked.

Indeed, the latter would be an ambitious move, given how well he is doing at Real Madrid. The versatile midfielder has scored eight goals and provided four assists in 20 games this season.

The transfer target has been talked up by Bentancur, a midfielder from Arsenal’s local rivals Spurs. Of course, it makes sense that he is a fan of Valverde’s, given they both play for Uruguay together.

“Uruguay has Valverde who is one of the best in the world in his role. There is Suarez and Cavani too; we can have a great World Cup,” Bentancur said via Calciomercato.

Indeed, the Uruguay side is filled with quality players, Valverde perhaps the most dangerous at present. Should he have a good World Cup, his stock will likely rise higher than where it already is.

That could mean Arsenal are unable to prise him away from Real. However, the vindication of their potential pursuit from a rival player will show just how good of a signing he could be.

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