Arsenal and Tottenham keen on Spanish midfielder Pablo Fornals

North London sides Arsenal and Tottenham are set to compete for Villarreal’s in-form midfielder Pablo Fornals, who is enjoying an impressive season for the Spanish side in the La Liga.

Arsenal and Tottenham have both been keeping tabs on the Spanish international, who is just 23-years old. He is also linked with a summer move to Napoli, who claimed they reached an agreement back in February.

Unai Emery has reportedly been keeping his eye on Fornals for a few months, however, if the Gunners want to sign the Spaniard in the summer transfer window, they will need to sell midfielder Mesut Ozil first, who’s currently earning 400,000 euros a week. Because of his hefty wage, Arsenal were unable to make any moves in the most recent transfer window due to a lack of funds. Ozil has failed to live up to expectations in North London. The best thing to do at this point for Arsenal would be to sell him and bring in numerous players who could help their club. With the selling of Aaron Ramsey to Juventus, they also need a player to replace him so Fornals could be the midfielder they need.

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For Tottenham, they could use another solid center midfielder. Christian Eriksen plays a more attacking role, while Victor Wanyama has played primarily as a holding midfielder. He hasn’t been great this year though so adding another quality all-around player like Fornals could be beneficial for Mauricio Pochettino’s side. He has the ability to play an attacking role as well, so his versatility could be a very big attraction to clubs like the Spurs.

With these two English clubs now in the picture, Napoli will face stiff competition to sign the 23-year old.

Enjoying a quality season

Despite Villarreal sitting in 17th place in the La Liga, Fornals is having a productive season for the Spanish side. He’s started 22 of their 27 league fixtures, netting once and also adding two assists. In Europa league play, the youngster has bagged three goals and three assists in nine appearances. Despite his team’s disappointing form in league play, they are currently still in the mix in Europa league, upsetting Zenit St. Petersburg 3-1 in the first leg of the round of 16 last week.

Even though Fornals hasn’t scored a ton of goals this year, he definitely has a talent for creating chances on net. If he played in a formation where he was more of an attacking midfielder and had better players around him, Fornals could definitely be more of a threat in front of goal. The Spaniard has a lethal right foot and has shown the ability to produce some absolute screamers from outside the 18-yard box. He has all the traits that a quality midfielder needs. Skill, vision, and strength on the ball.

It’s tough for him to stand out with a poor team like Villarreal but regardless, he is still attracting some notable clubs with his impressive midfield play.

Arsenal could be the best option for Fornals if they can get Mesut Ozil’s contract off their chest. He could fit in very well in their midfield while coming at a much more affordable price.

It will be interesting to see which club Pablo Fornals ends up at in the summer transfer window.