Arsenal among first to enquire about prolific Monza striker, says report
Arsenal are reportedly among the first clubs to make contact over a prolific young striker who has taken Serie A by storm this season, as speculation continues over the club's long term options up front.
According to Portuguese outlet A Bola, Gustavo Varela has emerged as a target for Arsenal, Barcelona and Napoli following a remarkable start to life at Monza. The 21 year old, who was deemed surplus to requirements at Benfica, joined the newly promoted Italian side for a fee of just €2million (£1.7m) plus bonuses in the summer.
The Friday Injury Tracker
Who's out, who's back and what it means for the next two games.
That fee now looks like a bargain. Varela has scored nine goals in nine Serie A appearances this term, a staggering return for a player plying his trade at a club sitting 18th in the table with only two wins all season. His form has earned him the Serie A Rising Star of the Month award for October and reportedly caught the eye of several of Europe's biggest clubs.
A Bola claims Arsenal are among a host of Premier League clubs to have expressed an interest in Varela, and were in fact one of the first to formally enquire about his availability. Monza are said to have set an asking price in the region of €40 to 50million (£33 to 42m), a figure that could rise further if Jorge Jesus hands Varela his first senior Portugal call up this Friday.
Benfica did not include a buy back clause when selling Varela, but they are entitled to 20 per cent of any future transfer fee, along with the right of first refusal should a bidding war develop for the Portugal Under-21 international. His contract at Monza runs until June 2030.
Varela on his fast start
Speaking about his rapid rise in Italian football, Varela said: “I didn't expect to start off so strong. I always work hard to deliver these performances and score lots of goals. I hope to continue like this. There's a project here to develop young players. The club's goals convinced me to come here, and I hope to contribute as much as possible to the cause. Being at the top of the top scorers' table is a fantastic feeling, but honestly, I don't think about it too much. I try to take it day by day, already thinking about scoring in the next game to help the team, because the result is very important to me. I feel good here, I like the atmosphere and the way the city lives.”
Gyokeres context
Interest of this kind is unsurprising given Arsenal's situation up front. Viktor Gyokeres has struggled to justify his £64m move from Sporting, making just one Premier League start and still without a league goal this season, with Mikel Arteta currently favouring Kai Havertz as his central striker.
Gyokeres did show encouraging signs in midweek, scoring and assisting in a 2-1 Champions League win over Slavia Prague. Arteta praised the Swede's display afterwards, saying: “I thought he was really good. It was a game we believed would be really good for him, for the demands the opponent puts in and the spaces he could use. He's done it really well, not just for the assist and the goal, but he was really connected to the team. It's really great news for him, because he really needed that performance.”
Whether links to Varela develop into a concrete move remains to be seen, particularly with Barcelona and Napoli also credited with interest in the striker.
