Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is desperate for new strikers this summer
Arsenal have sent scouts to watch Paraguayan wonderkid Julio Enciso ahead of a potential summer transfer, according to reports.
Mikel Arteta is desperate for new attacking players, with the club’s only two senior centre-forwards Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah both out of contract at the end of the current season.
The Gunners are expected to stick with their philosophy of signing and developing young players, with Argentine news outlet Cronica reporting that the club have identified Enciso, who currently plays for Club Libertad in his home country.
Already with five Paraguay caps to his name, the 18-year-old is currently turning heads in his country’s Primera Division, scoring ten goals in as many games in 2022. The forward made his professional debut for the club at just 15-years of age in 2019.
The report claims that Arsenal scout Everton Gushiken was present for Libertad’s 4-0 defeat to Cerro Porteno on Sunday, and was reportedly also there to keep an eye on Porteno defender Alexis Duarte.
Duarte, a 22-year-old centre-half, has helped his side keep seven clean sheets in eleven games so far this season, as the north London club look to improve in all areas this summer.
Arsenal forward Lacazette has opened talks with “a lot of clubs”
The Gunners will be desperate for at least two new strikers this summer, with the departures of Lacazette and Nketiah looking inevitable in June.
Lacazette has only scored twice from open play this season, while Nketiah hasn’t netted in the Premier League during the campaign.
The French forward has been vocal this week regarding his future, admitting to Canal Plus that he is “missing” playing in the Champions League, a competition his current side haven’t competed in since 2017.
Lacazette, who has been club captain since the departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January, also confessed that he has “never cut contact” with Lyon, who he left to join Arsenal five years ago.
Arteta has urged his number nine to focus on his current side, after claiming he is in contact with “a number of clubs.”
Per BBC Sport, the Spanish boss said on the issue:
“We have expressed clearly what our intention is; to speak in the summer once we know where we are, about what we are going to do in the future together.”And for the rest, I just want him fully focused on his duty, which is now defend Arsenal in the best possible way, like he has done all the time he has been with us.”That’s why he has been wearing the armband of this football club, that’s a big reason.”
