Arsenal are interested in signing French teenagers Kingsley Coman and Adrien Rabiot, but face competition from other Premier League outfits.
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is well-known for his desire to bring talented young players to the Emirates Stadium, with the Daily Star now reporting that another wonderkid duo could be on their way to North London.
The players in question are Paris Saint Germain pair Kingsley Coman and Adrien Rabiot, both of whom are seen as some of the brightest young prospects in Wenger’s native France.
Seventeen year-old attacking midfielder Coman has rejected a new deal with the French champions, clearing the way for a move to Arsenal once the two clubs have agreed on a compensation fee, with Arsenal reported to have offered PSG a deal worth £1 million.
Coman is one of PSG’s youngest ever players and has already made his debut for the France U21 side, even finding the back of the net. A tricky and pacey player, he would be seen as one for the future at the Emirates Stadium.
The Star are also reporting that he is attracting attention from Newcastle United, another club known for their willingness to court French players, but the player himself is said to favour a link-up with Wenger.
The second player on the Arsenal wishlist is nineteen year-old Adrien Rabiot, a central midfielder who has made more than thirty appearances for the PSG first team.
After a nomadic career at youth level, including a brief stint with Manchester City, Rabiot settled down in Paris and has gone on to become one of the club’s brightest young talents, having also been capped at Under 21 level by the French.
He is supposedly also attracting the interest of new Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal, however, who will be keen to inject some freshness and youth into a central midfield that has been criticised for its lack of speed and authority over the past twelve months.
The two are likely to be available due to PSG’s continuing desire to court big-name stars, with £50m man David Luiz becoming the latest star to join Laurent Blanc’s expensively assembled squad in the French capital.
Despite also being massive clubs, both Arsenal and United could offer more playing time and a stronger focus on development than would be afforded to Coman and Rabiot at the Parc des Princes.
Were they to join Arsenal, the duo would be follow in the footsteps of the likes of Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Nicholas Anelka and Laurent Koscielny, all of whom joined the club as relatively unheralded players from Wenger’s homeland.
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