Frimpong & Luiz interest shows Arsenal are building a future juggernaut

Tom Weber

Updated: 6 Dec 2023 16:05 GMT
3 min read

Jeremie Frimpong, Douglas Luiz, Arsenal — © ProShots

Mikel Arteta is turning Arsenal into a potential juggernaut.

Article continues under the video

The Gunners, five points clear at the summit of the Premier League table and having run Man City close last term, are already a force to be reckoned with, but the potential of their current crop of players and the players they are interested in signing makes for scary reading for non-Arsenal fans.

As FootballTransfers has been able to confirm, Jeremie Frimpong is a major target for Mikel Arteta and Edu in a bid to reshuffle the Gunners' defence. Ben White has done an admirable job at right-back, but his preferred position is at the heart of the backline. Signing Frimpong, who has been the Bundesliga's most exciting nominal right-back for several years, would give Arteta the option to shift things around.

The Gunners are also still incredibly keen on Aston Villa's Douglas Luiz. Though it would take an absurd amount of money to prise him away in January, Arsenal will give it a good go and should they fail, there is always the summer window.

Arsenal building for the future

Arsenal are building for the future, this is evident not just in their transfer business, targeting mainly players in their early to mid-20s, but also in them tying most of their stars down to fresh, long-term deals.

Frimpong (22) and Luiz (25) fit right into the Gunners' player profile and if we consult data firm SciSports, we can see that both are rated very highly indeed. No right-back under the age of 25 has a higher SciSports potential than Frimpong, while Luiz sits seventh in terms of central midfielders aged 25 or younger.

Adding these two to a squad already boasting some of the world's biggest talents would turn Arsenal into a juggernaut. Indeed, Luiz's potential is only marginally smaller than Declan Rice's according to the SciSports algorithm, illustrating how highly the Brazilian is rated.

The likes of Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard, William Saliba, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber all boast sky-high potential - and they are already exceptional players, of course. While not every single one of the players mentioned here will likely reach the heights they could reach, there is nevertheless plenty to get excited about if you're a Gooner.