Arsenal reportedly considering a big-money move for Athletic Bilbao forward Oihan Sancet.
The 25-year-old had a spectacular 2024-25 season for the Lions, scoring 17 goals and providing three assists in 36 games across all competitions.
Sancet has one goal in four games this season and was part of the Athletic squad that faced Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
According to Fichajes, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta was quite impressed with Sancet’s performance in the game and believes he may be ‘the missing piece’ for the Gunners.
According to the source, the North London club is willing to pay around €80 million (£69 million) to capture the Spaniard next summer, although they may face competition if he has another successful season.
Arsenal is ‘planning’ big-money bid for Athletic’s Sancet
Indeed, Manchester United and Aston Villa are said to be interested in the forward, who has played 197 games for the Lions in all competitions, scoring 43 goals and assisting 18 times.
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According to Sofascore, Sancet completed 18 of his 21 passes against Arsenal, including two critical passes, and won three of his five aerial duels.
Sancet was unquestionably one of Athletic’s most effective players during the Champions League match, but a professional display from Arteta’s side earned the visitors the three points.
Sancet is unlikely to be recruited for that fee as a backup, therefore it will be fascinating to see where he fits into the XI given that captain Martin Odegaard is first choice at number ten.
Would Sancet be a good signing for Arsenal?
Athletic, for obvious reasons, will be desperate to maintain Sancet, but the attacker would find it tough to turn down the opportunity to transfer to the Premier League at this point in his career.
Sancet only scored six goals in 2023-24 before exploding last season with 17 across all competitions, and he clearly has the talent to succeed in the Premier League.
That being said, a move of this size would only make sense if Odegaard was on his way out; Sancet can also play as a false nine, but he would undoubtedly be behind both Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz in that part of the field if he made the move to the Emirates Stadium.
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