Arsenal are reportedly interested in Valencia striker, Maxi Gomez with the LaLiga club willing to sell the Uruguay international for a cut-price fee next month. Valencia are currently in dire financial straits and despite selling eight first-team players in the summer, president Anil Murthy insisted recently that there would be ‘additional sales of players.’
Uruguay international Gomez has a £125million release clause at the Mestalla but Valencia are open to a January deal for a mere slice of that figure and Mikel Arteta is eyeing the 24-year-old to improve his struggling side in attack, according to The Mirror. The report details that Murthy admitting that the club must continue to sell in order to balance the books means the Gunners could land Gomez in a bargain deal once the transfer window re-opens next month.
Gomez has scored 14 goals in 53 matches for Valencia since his £14m move from Celta Vigo in 2019, where his conversion record was significantly better at 30 goals in 75 games. The striker is also a Uruguay international with 19 caps to his name, scoring three goals in those appearances. He may be the answer to a Gunners side struggling for goals amid their worst start to a league campaign in 46 years. Arteta’s side are currently 15th in the table with 14 points from 14 games – and they have scored just 12 goals in that time.
Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored just twice all season from open play in the Premier League and was missing from the team, which lost to Everton at the weekend due to a minor calf injury. That loss at Goodison Park was Arsenal’s eighth in the league already this season and they badly lacked creativity as they looked to find an equaliser in the second half.
Valencia, meanwhile, are looking for money for Gomez after selling stars such as Ferran Torres, Rodrigo and Francis Coquelin in the summer. Geoffrey Kondogbia, Dani Parejo and Ezequiel Garay also departed the club – they currently sit 13th in the LaLiga table but just one point above the relegation zone.
