Over the last few days, strong links have emerged between Arsenal and Kingsley Coman. The news was initially reported by BEIN Sports on Monday, and speculation has intensified over the last few days, with a bid of around £45m being suggested.
The report suggests that Coman could be one of a number of players who could take advantage of Bayern’s ‘summer of change’ and test himself elsewhere. With Arsenal’s clear need for a winger, and Unai Emery admitting the club may still add one more player this summer, the link to Coman is fairly logical; but is he the right man for Arsenal?
At just 22 years old, Kingsley Coman is an extremely experienced young player, with 119 appearances for PSG, Juventus and Bayern Munich, along with 15 France caps and a league titles from France, Italy and Germany. In short, Coman’s short career has been extremely successful, and on paper, he is the kind of player every club dreams about adding.
But, football is not played on paper, and it’s worth diving deeper than just Coman’s medal collection. At PSG, he made a total of three league appearances, yet bagged two title winning medals. At Juventus, he played 14 league games, and at Bayern, he has never played more than 23 league games in a single season.
While, it is worth noting that the three clubs he has played for have extremely stiff competition for places, the competition at Arsenal is not to be written off. With a front four of Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Lacazette and Aubameyang, competition for places will be extremely tough next season, so any winger coming in will need to be ready to battle for a place in the starting Xl.
And, they will be expected to deliver the consistency that ensures they nail down a regular starting place due to the club’s lack of natural wingers. At Bayern, Coman appeared to finally nail down a starting place last season, but suffered a serious injury to his left ankle in February, which kept him out of the rest of the season, and cost him his place at the World Cup.
If Coman can recover the form he showed at the beginning of last season, he would be an excellent addition to Arsenal’s squad, and would provide a much needed outlet in the wide areas. Mainly known for his pace, Coman is one of the fastest players in world football, with the feet to match, and his mere presence on the pitch will scare the life out of defenders. Add this to a line-up that includes Aubameyang, and you’ve got a frightening prospect.
However, there is one major flaw in this dream – does Kingley Coman want to sign for Arsenal? Judging by his interview with Sport Bild yesterday, the answer is no. Not just to Arsenal; it would appear that Coman is happy at Bayern after saying: ‘Winning the Champions League is naturally a major goal. Our team is very strong. We have a good mix of experienced players like Robben, Ribéry, Neuer, Hummels and Lewandowksi, and young players like Serge Gnabry. We don’t need to hide from anyone.’
With a full sweep of medals from every country he’s played in, the one trophy lacking from his cabinet is the Champions League, and he seems determined to win it. While Bayern’s chances of winning it appear to be low this year, they are still greater than Arsenal’s, which could prove a major stumbling block.
If this deal is to happen, Unai Emery and co. will have to do an exceptional job of selling Arsenal’s project to Coman, who will not leave Bayern to settle for top four. He will want to join a winning team, and the club will probably need to offer a large increase on his wages. While there’s no doubt he would improve the team, he is still young and raw, with plenty to learn, and Arsenal will be very aware that they do not want to pay over the odds for a player like this.
ASK Arsenal 
Well written write up and I agree with most of all you wrote except the paying over the odds part. I believe arsenal won’t have gone into the slum it found it sell if we had sign the top class youngsters we were after, but these policy of not paying over the odds for youngster lost us Mbappe most recently.
A player like coman still has 10yrs of top football which covers every expense paid. Plus sell on value.
Not saying buying him is a must but we have to drop bias of not buying quality youngster bcos of cost. Barca just got Author expensive, Madrid settle one that will join next sesson both above £40m.
We shouldn’t continue to be left out of signing quality youngsters only to go after them when their value have quattripled.
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Thanks Mbang. My main point about overpaying is with the wages, which may not have come across properly. We don’t want to sign a player who wants to come for big wages, that we then can’t shift if he doesn’t live up to his potential. The £45m price is fair, and you’re absolutely right about needing to pay for top young talent, especially players that are first team ready, and will have a number of years ahead of them.
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