Arsenal Transfer News: Munir El Haddadi Monitored Amid Barcelona Exit Rumours

Barcelona are reportedly ready to listen to offers for their young forward Munir El Haddadi, with Arsenal apparently keen on signing him.

According to Fichajes (h/t Jamie Anderson of the Daily Star), the Blaugrana are willing to let the 20-year-old leave the club in order to balance the books. The Gunners are noted as being an interested party, but it’s written Barcelona would insist on any deal including a clause that would enable them to buy Munir back.

There’s certainly plenty of potential to work with when it comes to Munir, who has been a regular fixture in the Barcelona first-team as of late due to the club’s recent injury crisis.

As noted by Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC, the youngster is convincing in some aspects of his play, but not others:

You do wonder whether or not Munir will be able to fulfil his true potential at the Camp Nou. With Neymar and Luis Suarez tearing things up at the moment, Lionel Messi to come back into the picture and Arda Turan to join up with the squad from January, opportunities will be scarce for the academy graduate.

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At the moment, Munir looks like a player who needs regular minutes, too. Granted, he’s been a little rusty, but that's to be expected of a forward who has been on the periphery of the starting XI.

Spanish football expert Sergi Dominguez thinks he still has plenty to offer:

Arsenal could potentially be an ideal destination. Munir certainly has the technical ability to make it at the Emirates Stadium and would bring a versatile presence to the Gunners’ attack.

However, while Barcelona have inserted buy-back clauses in the contracts of some other departed players, the Gunners are an elite club and therefore unlikely to entertain such a stipulation. With that in mind, not to mention Arsenal’s wealth of options in attacking midfield, it’s tough to see this transfer coming to fruition.

Roma Seeking Permanent Wojciech Szczesny Transfer

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Walter Sabatini, Roma’s director of football, has revealed the club are looking to keep the on-loan Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in the Italian capital beyond the terms of his current agreement.

After landing Petr Cech in the summer, Arsene Wenger decided to send the Pole out on loan to get some first-team football. Szczesny has had a mixed beginning to life with the Giallorossi, but Sabatini has faith in his abilities and wants him to become a long-term solution for Roma between the sticks.

“We are working on it and would like to keep Szczesny, but knowing Arsenal it will be difficult to achieve that,” he said, per James Benge of the London Evening Standard. “In any case, Roma are already covered in that role for next season. Who did we get? I will never tell you that!”

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While Szczesny is undeniably talented, so far in his stint at Roma he has yet to showcase a consistency to his game that the Gunners were crying out for before Cech. Indeed, his horror show in the first half of a recent Champions League defeat to BATE Borisov condemned the Serie A side to a shock defeat.

As noted by John Solano of Roma Press, sadly for Szczesny, it seems as though he’s not learned from his mistakes either:

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Bizarre how Szczesny gets beaten on that from so far out. Almost identical to the goal against BATE. That cannot happen.

— John Solano (@Solano_56) October 31, 2015"

Capable of pulling off spectacular saves, commanding his area and getting a team moving with astute distribution, all the technical tools are there for the 25-year-old to become a top-class goalkeeper. Now it’s imperative Szczesny irons out these continued lapses in concentration.

For Arsenal, a sale would make sense. Szczesny has always been a popular figure with the other Gunners players and the supporters, but at the moment, there is little to suggest he’ll be wresting the goalkeeper jersey off Cech any time soon. A permanent move and a fresh start may allow the Pole to align his focus and finally realise his potential.