According to French outlet MediaFoot, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid are reportedly keeping tabs on former Barcelona striker Ferran Jutgla. The 23-year-old has caught the eye of the European heavyweights after delivering some blistering performances for his new side Club Brugge. The Belgian club signed Jutgla for €5 million this summer from the Catalans, and so far are reaping the rewards of their investment.
Meanwhile, Arsenal and Atletico are looking to bolster their frontline and have Jutgla on their radars. While an imminent move hasn’t be speculated yet, but given the Gunners’ recent policy of recruiting young players to help their manager Mikel Arteta build a solid project for the present as well as the future, they could well come forward with an official bid next summer. Atletico on the other hand are lacking some firepower up front and hence want the 23-year-old who is familiar with La Liga.
Arsenal want more attacking power, as Atletico looking to add some life to their front line
Arsenal were very much active this summer, in a repeat of events from last summer’s transfer window where they spent a whopping €170 million on signings. This time as well, they splashed €131 million to bring in the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos, Matt Turner and their marquee signing Gabriel Jesus. However, Mikel Arteta was eyeing more deals before the deadline day, but couldn’t complete any.
But the Spaniard, along with Arsenal technical director Edu Gaspar are already planning about the upcoming winter market as well as the next summer’s. Jutlga has now popped up on their list as they want more depth in their striking options, which already have Jesus and Eddie Nketiah. The former Barca striker has massively impressed so far this season after sealing a move to Brugge early in the summer market.
Jutgla has scored 8 goals and provided 5 assists in only 13 games so far, making him one of the hot prospects across European football. A La Masia graduate, Jutgla’s 19 goals and 6 assists in 32 games for Barcelona B earned him 9 first-team appearances for the club last season where he netted twice. However, he left the Catalan giants for regular game time after the arrivals of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha this summer, and his decision has been an apt one.
On the other hand, Atletico Madrid are well aware of Jutgla’s potential since they have already seen him playing in Spain, and have went up against him this season in the Champions League. Brugge were drawn alongside Atletico, Bayer Leverkusen and Porto in Group B, where they were not even considered as underdogs. The Belgian side, however, has caused havoc in the group and gunned down all three of the clubs so far, keeping a 100% record.
Jutgla has crucially contributed with 2 goals and 2 assists in those 3 games, also playing an all important role by netting one and assisting another in his side’s 2-0 win over Atletico. That must have been enough for Diego Simeone’s side to monitor the striker, who also possesses astute playmaking qualities. Atletico are further lacking some serious attacking threat up front, with their forwards Joao Felix, Alvaro Morata, Antoine Griezmann and Matheus Cunha only managing a combined 6 goals.
As evident, the Los Colchoneros are in dire need of more attacking options upfront. While Brugge will certainly not anticipate selling him immediately next summer, potential suitors will have to fork out a significant amount to lure the Belgian side into changing their mind. Meanwhile, Barca too are guaranteed a good chunk of his future sale, thanks to the 10% sell-on clause they included while letting him leave for Brugge.