One African out, another one in. At least that’s the plan for Arsenal and their sporting director and former player Edu. Off course, there is no rule that one African player has to come instead of the other, but the quality of players who are coming directly or indirectly from the African continent in undeniable. There was a lot of fuss recently when Gunners failed to keep super-talented Chido Obi-Martin who went to Manchester United instead. The striker of Nigerian descent allegedly didn’t see his future at Emirates as bright as at Old Trafford, especially considering the examples of Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith-Rowe, who were youth prospect just like him, but never quite got the chance and left the club. Chasing Manchester City over the years means that Mikel Arteta cannot afford to give chance to youngsters. But Edu is still looking for talented prospects who could find their way into the first team like Bukayo Saka, and he is close to signing one. Why Arteta doesn’t trust youngsters?According to reports from England, Mali international Baye Coulibaly is on Gunners’ radar. The youngster filled in as an emergency center back then for his country but has established himself as a defensive midfielder where he figured for Mali U20s in last month’s Africa Cup of Nations and earned man of the match in their 0-0 draw with Gambia. The Mali player is currently contracted to Croatian’s team NK Kustosija and they have a reputation for developing young talents. They are rating the youngster at around five million pounds and both Girona and Red Bull Salzburg are also in the mix for Coulibaly. Money is not a problem for Arsenal, but the young Malian will surely get more first-team opportunities in other clubs. Barcelona signs another Ghana kidNK Kustosija previously sold Senegalese prospect Mikayil Faye to Barcelona who was subsequently bought by Rennes for 12 million pounds in August. Faye was also on Edu’s radar at the time, but Arsenal needed significant funds at the time to straighten the first team, so they gave up. Now they do have the money, but the question is will they persuade Coulibaly to join them and wait for his chance. ##NAJAVA_MECA_8398493##
