BELGRADE, SERBIA - SEPTEMBER 06: Yusuf Yazici of Turkey in action during the UEFA Nations League group stage match between Serbia and Turkey at Rajko Mitic Stadium on September 6, 2020 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)
According to Daily Mail, Arsenal have shown interest in Yusuf Yazici of Lille for quite a while now. They even made a bid for him during his Trabzonspor days. A lot of other top clubs such as Manchester United, PSV and Lyon also kept an eye on him during that time.
Yusuf Yazici is a 23-year-old Turkish midfielder who plays for LOS Lille. A youth product of Trabzonspor, he joined the club’s academy in 2008. He spent the next few seasons progressing through the youth academy before he was promoted to the U-16s in 2012.
Successive promotions followed every season before he was finally promoted to the senior side towards the end of 2015. After that, he went on to make a 100 appearances for the senior side scoring 22 goals and assisting 21 more.
Last season, he was signed by Lille and over time, he has gone on to establish himself as one of the best upcoming playmakers in France and Europe. He has made 37 appearances for the French side to date scoring 8 goals and assisting 5 more (source – Transfermarkt).
A regular member of the Turkish national team, he has 25 appearances and one goal for them to date.
It is evident that Arsenal have a creative problem in their ranks. They are struggling to create chances and that has resulted in the team scoring just 9 goals in 8 league games.
The squad does have Mesut Ozil but given the fact that he has been excluded from the squad, it leaves the team with more defensive-minded midfielders. Revisiting their interest in Yazici is a decision that the club should actually look into.
It is hard to not draw similarities between Yazici and Ozil given their heritage and playing style. Both share a Turkish heritage and are left-footed playmakers. Yazici recently made headlines when he scored two hat-tricks in the Europa League this season, one of which was against AC Milan at the San Siro.
Yazici looks like the perfect player to ease Arsenal’s creativity issues. At just 23, he has a lot of years ahead of him to improve even further. Even if Arsenal can’t get their primary targets, Yazici is one player they should really try hard for.
