Arsenal must look to implement Man City’s £57million strategy in sale of Charlie Patino amid growing interest
Those who follow Arsenal are quite frustrated when they see clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City receiving such high player fees in the past. On Tuesday, a £40m bid from West Ham for Conor Gallagher was rejected by the Blues as they sought nearly £50m for the England international.
The Gunners sold Granit Xhaka and Pablo Mari for a combined fee of around £25million. Other departures are expected this summer including Folarin Balogun, Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Auston Trusty, Rob Holding and Cedric Soares.
Another player is Charlie Patino, who football.london knows is aiming for a permanent departure as the situation in Arsenal’s midfield prevents a clear path to regular senior minutes. The Gunner want a buyout involved in any transfer, but the discussion over the value the club places on Patino has remained behind closed doors for now.
With clubs from England, Spain and Germany believed to have an interest in Patino, Arsenal should be looking to secure a decent amount for the much-loved midfielder who impressed on loan at Blackpool last season. Arsenal should look to a club like City for their record, with recent youngsters being sold for inspiration.
Southampton have signed up to four young players from Man City in 2022 and added another this summer as well. Gavin Bazunu was £12m, Romeo Lavia was £10.5m guaranteed with an additional £3.5m, £10m was Sam Edozie’s price, Juan Larios was £6m, then this summer they signed Shea Charles on a £10.5m guaranteed up to £15m with add-ons. This represents a potential pledge of £57m for players who simply weren’t close to getting minutes for the Man City senior team.
The 2022 foursome sadly failed to save Saints from relegation, but that hasn’t deterred their strategy to see them continue to sign youngsters from the Etihad and hope it helps them return to the top flight.
For sure Lavia, who has been linked to Arsenal, could earn him quite a bit. Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have received an asking price of £50m from Southampton, although City retain a 20% sell-on clause.
Arsenal should look into these deals and use them as examples in club negotiations over Patino. A figure north of £10m is very reasonable in my opinion, even subject to a buy-back clause of over £25m.
