Arsenal Transfer News: Latest Stephan El Shaarawy, Aaron Leya Iseka Rumours

The rumour transfer mill continues to link Arsenal with a host of young forwards, with AS Monaco's Stephan El Shaarawy and Anderlecht's Aaron Leya Iseka being the latest to be mentioned as targets for the Gunners.

Arsenal's interest in El Shaarawy isn't exactly new, as the Daily Mirror's Neil Moxley pointed out that he's a long-term target of the club, but he claims manager Arsene Wenger is monitoring his progress while on loan with his new club.

As reported by Football Italia, El Shaarawy's move from AC Milan to Monaco will become permanent at the end of the season, as a clause in his contract was triggered when he played in his 15th match for the team. The young winger has looked revitalised since joining Monaco, a much-needed change of scenery after his spell with Milan.

Once regarded as Italy's top attacking talent, Il Faraone made his debut for the Rossoneri during the 2011-12 season and enjoyed a massive breakout campaign one year later, scoring 16 goals and adding four assists in 34 Serie A starts, per WhoScored.com.

His incredible combination of raw pace and scoring ability was too much for even the best defenders to handle, and many believed he would have a massive future.

But persistent injury concerns and the arrival of Mario Balotelli stunted his growth, and in the years that followed, El Shaarawy looked nothing like the exciting winger fans had grown to love.

Now with Monaco, he seems to have rediscovered the sense of joy he showed when he first starred for Milan, and we're beginning to see flashes of the unpredictable forward who would bewilder opposing full-backs.

Despite this, Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim doesn't appear to rate the 22-year-old, who could be sold by the end of the season for a nice profit. Robin Bairner of Goal doesn't understand why Jardim won't let him start matches, although Bleacher Report's Jonathan Johnson offers an explanation:

Equally adept at playing through the centre and out wide, El Shaarawy is likely to see more playing time now that the club has triggered the clause in his loan deal.

Given Wenger's long admiration of the player, it's only logical he'll continue to follow the situation, although a transfer move in the near future is doubtful.

El Sharaawy needs to show he's still on course to live up to his tremendous potential, and an extended stay with Monaco wouldn't be such a bad idea. If the Ligue 1 side do decide to give him a fair chance and not sell him after one season, he has every chance to get his career back on course.

Meanwhile, Calciomercato (h/t the Daily Mirror's James Whaling) report Wenger is scouting 17-year-old Anderlecht prodigy Leya Iseka, the younger brother of current Olympique Marseille forward Michy Batshuayi.

Leya Iseka is seen as one of the top players to emerge from Anderlecht's vaunted Purple Talents program in years and played an integral part in the team's superb showing during last year's UEFA Youth League.

Despite his tender age, he has already made his full Anderlecht debut and hasn't looked out of place even with the senior team.

It's no surprise foreign clubs would be interested in the youngster, but the timing of this particular transfer rumour seems a little odd, to say the least. Leya Iseka tore his ACL earlier this month, and Het Laatste Nieuws' Kristof Terreur agrees that now is not the time to consider transfer rumours:

Leya Iseka is a supremely talented youngster with excellent athletic ability and lethal instincts in front of goal, but he's also set to miss months with a serious knee injury and could realistically be out for the rest of the season.

Expect him to recover from this setback in Brussels and slowly work his way back toward top form, a process that may well take two years. Until then, any transfer rumours should be shelved.

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