Arsenal Transfer News: Latest Toni Kroos and William Carvalho Rumours

Real Madrid playmaker Toni Kroos is reportedly a target for Arsenal, with the midfielder said to be considering his future in the Spanish capital.

That’s according to AS (h/t Will Giles of Metro), who have reported that Kroos has already received proposals from elsewhere and the Gunners are one of the teams interested in bringing him in; it's stated Leicester City’s star midfield man N’Golo Kante is being eyed by Real as a replacement.

For Arsenal, the 26-year-old would definitely be an interesting capture. Here is a look at what he would add to the Premier League:

Kroos, despite his underwhelming showings for Real this season, is a player of the highest class. In possession there are few footballers in the world who can deliver passes like he can, whether that be short into the feet of forwards or sent out wide to stretch the play.

For Arsenal, who play a technical style of football centred around quick interchanges, he’d be perfect in a deeper position in midfield, managing the course of a game next to a destructive influence such as Francis Coquelin.

However, according to Henry Winter of the Times, Manchester City are also interested in bringing in the German international:

Kroos hasn’t been helped by the position he’s been played in at Real Madrid. Alongside another intricate midfielder such as Luka Modric, he can often be exposed defensively; for all his qualities, the former Bayern Munich man is certainly not the best going back towards his own goal.

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His quality is worth supplementing, though. Alongside a mobile presence, Kroos would have license to affect the game a little higher up the pitch, where he has proved previously—especially at Bayern—he can be a major threat. If Arsenal can get him in, he’d potentially be the perfect long-term replacement for Santi Cazorla.

Arsenal Scout William Carvalho

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Arsenal have also reportedly checked in on the development of Sporting Club’s midfielder William Carvalho, with the Gunners linked with a summer move for the Portugal international.

According to A Bola (h/t Mark Brus of Metro) the 23-year-old is on the club’s wishlist as they seek to rebuild their midfield this summer, and they sent a scout recently to monitor the player who is suggested to have been a long-term target.

Carvalho is a midfielder who would certainly bring a presence to the heart of the Arsenal side which has long been lacking. Here is a look at the kind of qualities he possesses:

A player who can marry finesse and ferocity in the middle of the park like Carvalho would certainly enrich the Gunners, who have shown in recent matches that they still possess a soft underbelly.

Indeed, while coach Arsene Wenger drafted in Mohamed Elneny in the January window, in matches when he’s operated alongside Coquelin, whose form has tailed off as of late too, the team have struggled to find a balance in midfield; it’s an area of the pitch in which they do lack multifaceted footballers.

Carvalho certainly fits into that category, as the aforementioned clips illustrate, and is someone who seems tailored for English football. As noted by Jan Hagen of Sport Witness, following a disappointing run the 23-year-old has looked back to his best in recent matches:

He’s at an age which seems the right time to make a move to a juggernaut of the European game too. Carvalho is no longer a hot prospect, he’s a thoroughbred midfielder who has shone at an elite level. With Arsenal likely to rebuild their midfield this summer with the contracts of Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini expiring, it could potentially be a brilliant opportunity for him.

Of course, there are still areas in which Carvalho can improve. His distribution is one, but at a club like Arsenal, he will become much more effective with the ball at his feet working under someone like Wenger. But crucially, with his power, youthful exuberance and defensive instincts, Carvalho would bring so much to this side which is currently in short supply.