Arsenal and Chelsea have been linked with a move for Schalke’s 19-year-old winger Rabbi Matondo and according to Todo Fichajes, the Gunners have already made the first move.
The report claims: “Rabbi Matondo is one of the young players on the agendas of the great clubs in Europe.
“The 19-year-old winger of Schalke 04 and who has been singled out as a possible signing of Real Madrid for his subsidiary, is in the orbit of Arsenal and Chelsea, who are trying to get their services.
“The Gunners team would have even started conversations with the Welsh footballer’s environment to assess his hiring, offering him a tailor-made project.”
Matondo moved to Schalke last summer from Manchester City and this season, the right-winger has already featured in 14 Bundesliga matches for the German side. And in these games, the youngster seems to have caught the attention of a number of big European clubs.
Do Arsenal need a player like Rabbi Matondo?
Arsenal spend a lot of money to sign Nicolas Pepe from Lille last year and the Ivorian does the same job as Rabbi Matondo. So clearly it makes absolutely no sense in buying a player for the same position especially when Mikel Arteta has other problematic areas to deal with.
Some rumours claim, Arsenal could sell off Pepe in the summer due to his poor form but we don’t think the Gunners will walk on that path since no big club will be willing to pay a massive transfer fee for the winger. And selling him at a loss is just not feasible for the North London club right now.
And this is why Arsenal should try and forget about Rabbi Matondo and use the allocated money in strengthening their defensive line.
Chelsea, on the other hand, are expected to lose both Willian and Pedro in the summer meaning they not only need a player like Rabbi but can also guarantee him regular starts in the 2020-21 season.
But despite all this buzz, we do not think the 19-year-old is likely to return back to the Premier League since as per Diario Madridista, Real Madrid also want to sign him in the summer and it’s not every day a youngster will get an opportunity to work with a manager like Zinedine Zidane.
Apart from these clubs, Manchester United are also said to be keeping tabs on the winger but they are unlikely to make a move since Jadon Sancho remains their utmost priority.
