Emiliano Buendia
Arsenal are hot on the heels of Norwich City talisman Emiliano Buendia. After a disappointing 2020/21 campaign, which saw the club finish eighth in the Premier League table and miss out on a place in Europe for the first time in 25 years, the Gunners are going to be keen to make numerous changes to the first-team squad this summer in an attempt to avoid a repeat of this season occurring. Manager Mikel Arteta, who watched his side end their Premier League campaign with five successive victories, has already admitted that the forthcoming window is one of the biggest that the club has faced in recent years. Asked by Sky Sports earlier this month if it could be the most important summer in years,
Mikel Arteta said: “Yes. Because a lot of things have happened in the last few transfer windows. There are a lot of players in various situations. It’s crucial. We want to go to the next level and there are a lot of things we need to do to get there.”
Buendia is considered as one the most intelligent and creative players in England and is understood to be “motivated” by Arsenal’s interest. And if the verdict of Max Aarons, who has also been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium recently himself, is anything to go by, it is easy to understand why the Gunners are so keen on the former Getafe star.
Offering an insight into Buendia’s credentials, Max Aarons said: “He’s not really a player who will get on the ball and take you on as a full-back. His game is more about getting into pockets, playing neat passes and creating things. When you’ve got someone, who wants to run at you, then it’s easier to lock them down whereas someone like him is quite intricate so it’s hard to get near him. He’s tenacious and very strong. He’s got a lot of attributes.”
Buendia joined Norwich from Getafe in the summer of 2018, meaning he has had plenty of time to adapt to English football and learn the ropes, a task he has since made look easy. But it wasn’t all plain sailing from the start, with the language barrier causing a few early issues.
Max Aarons said: “When Buendia came over, he couldn’t speak a lot of English but he picked it really quickly,” Aarons continued. The sooner people pick up the language, then you start having more conservations and banter with them. Emi was playing on my side and, earlier on when he couldn’t speak English, it was hard to communicate, but now he can speak great English. There’s a massive effort from the players who come over to learn the language and that’s important.”
