3 reasons why Arsenal should sign this Barcelona wonderkid

The player we are talking about here is Antonio Sanabria , a Barcelona starlet who has been attracting interest from many top European clubs for his performances in the Barcelona B side.

Barca TV journalist Jaume Marcet said,

“Toni Sanabria has become a fantastic number nine. Sharp in his finishing, physically powerful, with quality, and generous”.

Here is why Arsenal should make a move for this wonder kid.

1. To regain their image as a club for young players

Ever since the mega money move for Mesut Ozil, it seems that some of the shine has been removed from Arsenal’s image as a club that promotes young talent and creates their own squad rather than buy it. Though they have been accused of being ‘poachers’ in the past with the likes of Cesc Fabregas joining because Barcelona were unable to offer him a professional contract until he was 18, the Gunners are still very much seen as a club that prefers to groom their players into what they want them to be instead of paying large transfer fees for players that have come to prominence elsewhere. If they manage to bring Sanabria in, it will show that Arsenal are still the big club to go to for young players who are looking to build on their career.

2. Make a large profit

Arsenal are in every context a large club, they have a huge fanbase, a state of the art stadium and have qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stages for 14 years running, but they are also a selling club. The likes of Patrick Vieira, Robin van Persie, Marc Overmars, Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri, Alex Song, Aleksandr Hleb, Emmanuel Adebayor and Ashley Cole have passed through the Arsenal gates in recent years, and not one of them is still there, albeit Overmars was a long time ago. Sanabria is a raw talent, and could be one of the best strikers in the world one day, and this means that Arsenal could once again sign a player for little and sell him for profits. This would be good for the board as they will be making more of a profit, but may annoy the fans as they would not want to see another big star go, but that’s the way it is at the Emirates, and it doesn’t appear to be changing soon.

3. Add depth to their attack

(L) Antonio Sanabria Ayala, during the UEFA Youth League match between Barcelona and Ajax

The Arsenal attack is worryingly shallow, Olivier Giroud starts almost every game, while the only other senior option is Nicklas Bendtner. Yaya Sanogo is an option, but he is only 20 years old and is rarely trusted in the Arsenal first team and plays mainly small Capital One Cup games. Of course Senabria is no senior either, in fact even younger as he is only 17 years old, but teams who give their young players are often rewarded, look at Juventus with Paul Pogba, AC Milan with Mattia De Sciglio, Schalke with Julian Draxler, and of course the breakthrough of Lionel Messi at Barcelona in 2007. Sanabria could bring just what Arsenal need to their front line, they may just need to show a little faith.

Scouting Sanabria (video)