Reports have filtered in that North London club Arsenal are in pole position to sign Moussa Konate, after fending off competitions from several Premier League suitors.
According to the Mirror, clubs like Chelsea, Everton, West Ham United and Tottenham are monitoring the situation of the Senegal international forward at the Swiss outfit, after scoring five goals for his nation at the 2012 Olympics in London. However, Arsenal are well-placed to sign Konate and in doing so, they could ease their burden of solving their strikers’ problem.
The Gunners were massively linked with Real Madrid’s striker Karim Benzema during the summer but deal to lure the former Lyon forward to the Emirates stadium were thwarted, as Benzema decided to stay put at the Santiago Bernabeu. Fresh reports emerged yesterday that it was actually Real’s president Florentino Perez that blocked the Frenchman’s exit, as he is one of the favourites of the club supremo.
Arsenal started the season without signing any striker and this has had inimical effects on the team, with first-choice forward Olivier Giroud misfiring and Danny Welbeck also not over his injury blights yet.
Energetic and pacey, Konate could well serve Arsenal in the strikers’ department as the reigning FA Cup champions seek to win the league title this season. The 22-year old joined Sion from Krasnodar last year, arriving the Swiss outfit with experience despite his relatively young age. He has had spells at Italian club Genoa as well as Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.
Konate’s agent Antoine Issa Kosoko had this to say about his client: “Lots of English clubs are interested in Moussa – Chelsea and Arsenal scouts are keeping an eye on him – but he is not obsessed with the Premier League and will consider good offers from Germany, Spain or England.
“Hannover, Mainz and Bruges were keen on him this summer, offering up to £6m. But Sion said they would not sell for less than £10m.
The Senegalese forward has made a brilliant start to the Europa League, scoring both goals for Sion as they secured a home win over Rubin Kazan on Thursday evening.