Arsenal

Arsenal

Premier League • England

Arsenal handed signing on a plate as Bayern man ‘feels forgotten’ and issues transfer plea to Tuchel

Noussair Mazraoui, Serge Gnabry and Sadio Mane of Bayern

Arsenal have been given a second opportunity to land a Bayern Munich player after he spoke openly about his struggles in Germany and revealed how he cannot deal with another season of warming the bench.

Both Arsenal and Bayern must focus on their respective league ambitions after being knocked out of Europe. Arsenal reached the Europa League last 16 but were left stunned when Sporting Lisbon dumped them out of the competition.

The tie went to penalties following a 2-2 draw in the first leg and a 1-1 draw in the second. Sporting won the shootout 5-3 to advance to the next round, meaning Mikel Arteta and Arsenal must concentrate on winning the Premier League title ahead of Manchester City.

Coincidentally, City are the ones who knocked Bayern out of the Champions League. Pep Guardiola’s side set up a semi-final clash with Real Madrid after beating Bayern 4-1 over two legs.

The damage was done in the first game at the Etihad, when City eased to a 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland.

Bayern must now try to make the season successful by getting to the Bundesliga crown before Borussia Dortmund, whom they currently have a two-point lead over.

READ MORE: Arsenal sizing up £97m double deal that would remedy title-costing issue and see Rice, Caicedo both ignored

Arsenal and Bayern could enter discussions over the transfer of Noussair Mazraoui this summer. Both Arsenal and Leeds tried to sign the right-back last year, only for Bayern to win the race and capture him from Ajax.

However, Mazraoui’s first season at the Allianz Arena has been very disappointing. He has struggled to play often and only three of his 13 league appearances have lasted a full 90 minutes.

Bayern player asks to be sold

The Moroccan has failed to get into the Bayern team ahead of Benjamin Pavard, Joao Cancelo and Josip Stanisic. And he has now revealed that enough is enough.

“I feel forgotten. The situation is disappointing. I’m no longer 2nd or 3rd option in my position – but 3rd or 4th,” the full-back said during an interview with German source Bild (via Fabrizio Romano).

“If the situation stays like this, that’s not what I want. And not what I deserve. I’ll fight — then we will see.”

It would not be a surprise if Arsenal went back in for Mazraoui as he is practically begging for a transfer. The Gunners would not have to break the bank to sign him, either.

As Bayern originally landed Mazraoui on a free transfer, any fee they get for him will be viewed as pure profit. This means Arsenal could reach an agreement by simply matching his value, which transfermarkt claim to be €28million (£24.6m).

The 25-year-old would almost certainly get more game time if he went to Arsenal, as Arteta has one less right-back than Bayern currently. His main options in the position are Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu.

There have been rumours Tomiyasu might be deployed as a backup to Oleksandr Zinchenko if Kieran Tierney is sold this summer. This would make space for Mazraoui to compete with White for a spot at right-back.

The Bundesliga man would struggle to get into Arsenal’s starting lineup ahead of White. However, he would at least have an opportunity to play often, something he is not being afforded under Thomas Tuchel.

Meanwhile, a report claims Unai Emery has told Aston Villa to get back in the mix for an Arsenal attacker who needs a transfer.