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News
Romano says player whose ‘most likely destination’ seemed like Arsenal is now joining CL side
Arsenal have been sporadically linked with Lens forward Lois Openda over the past few months.
reported in May that the Gunners are one of several clubs who have been scouting the 23-year-old.
They claimed that Arsenal have Openda on a list of potential No. 9 options ahead of the summer.
Journalist Jonathan Johnson also speculated that the Gunners would be the “most likely destination” for him in England.
However, speculation hasn’t really developed beyond Arsenal seemingly just scouting Openda and keeping tabs on him.
Now, if Arsenal did want to push forward with their interest, it looks like it’s too late for them now.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Openda will be joining Bundesliga side RB Leipzig instead.
The transfer insider declared “here we go” on the Belgian forward moving for a €40million (£34.3million) fee.
Our view
Admittedly, Arsenal have bigger fish to fry at present.
The Gunners are yet to get a deal for Declan Rice over the line, and a concerning report has been doing the rounds.
say West Ham are becoming increasingly frustrated about the delay with the deal to sell Rice to Arsenal.
That said, Openda would’ve been a good shout for the Gunners, and he wouldn’t have cost the earth either.
Last term, the 23-year-old registered a very impressive 21 goals and four assists from 38 Ligue 1 outings.
Openda’s efforts helped Lens push PSG all the way in the title race, finishing one point behind in second.
With Leipzig also in the Champions League next term, there’s a chance Arsenal could come up against Openda.
While it’s a shame, the Gunners are pretty well-stocked in attack at present.
And obviously there’s still time if they do want to strengthen their front line further.