Arsenal have made a €7 million bid for Lille winger Edon Zhegrova, according to reports in his home country of Kosovo.
The 23-year-old, who came to Lille from Basel in January, has “imposed” the Arsenal scouts in his six months in northern France, according to football commentator. Arlind Saliku† Saluku insists the Gunners have already made an opening bid for his compatriot.
Born in Germany after his family fled the Kosovo war, Zhegrova attended several youth academies in Belgium as a junior. After leaving Kosovo’s capital Prishtina in 2015, he moved to Standard Liège and Sint-Truiden before finally joining the prestigious youth ranks in Genk, where players such as Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois and Kalidou Koulibaly were trained.
In 2017, he made his senior debut at Genk, scoring five goals in 27 appearances before being signed by Basel in 2019. After impressing with an initial one-year lease, the move was made permanent in the summer of 2020.
With Basel, Zhegrova scored a whopping 11 goals and 17 assists in 74 games across all competitions, including building continental experience in both the Europa League and the Europa Conference League.
“Arsenal have made an official offer for 23-year-old winger Edon Zhegrova,” Saliku said on Twitter. “Player impressed the English club in Lille this year, having moved from Basel for €7million in January.”
Mikel Arteta had already been active in the transfer market this summer, securing the signing of Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus for £45 million after the departures of both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang in the past six months.
Porto’s Fabio Vieira has also been added to the Gunners’ midfield, while young Brazilian winger Marquinhos has joined from Sao Paolo, while goalkeeper Matt Turner has joined from New England Revolution.
Arsenal are hoping to come back from a poor end to last season, in which they narrowly missed out on Champions League football from rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
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