Arsene Wenger has told his Arsenal scouts to scour England’s lower leagues in search of untapped potential.
The Gunners are in the midst of an injury crisis with defenders Per Mertesacker, Gabriel Paulista and Laurent Koscielny currently sidelined.
Wenger is reportedly interested in £30m-rated Valencia centre-back Shkodran Mustafi and RB Leipzig’s Lukas Klostermann, but that hasn’t stopped the club looking elsewhere for talent – and value.
“I’ve said to our scouts to look at the lower leagues because the good players are there now,” he said, as reported by The Daily Mail.
“Don’t forget we have many foreign players in the Premier League but good English players have to go down to develop.
“What I think will happen is that you will have more and more players coming out of the lower leagues who have had to fight their way through.”
Wenger has bought the likes of Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and more recently Granit Xhaka for big money, but the Gunners manager is also renowned for seeking value in the transfer market.
That trait is shown by his signings this summer, with Bolton defender Rob Holding and Japanese attacker Takuma Asano the only additions beside Xhaka so far.
However, Arsenal had a £29.5m bid publicly rejected by Lyon for Alexandre Lacazette, while a £20m move for Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy was also turned down.
It is Vardy’s rise that inspires the scouring of the lower leagues. The striker played for Stocksbridge Park Steel and Fleetwood before being noticed by Leicester’s scouts and being called up for England.
Meanwhile, the likes of Premier League strikers Charlie Austin and Andre Gray also began their careers lower down the tiers, meaning there are players capable of making the step up.
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