Arsenal beat Barcelona and will pay $16 million for the 'new Iniesta'

Arsenal spent a fortune last summer to sign some players to help raise the level of the team. For Declan Rice they paid $124 million to West Ham United, while Kai Havertz arrived from Chelsea for $80 million and Jurrien Timber left Ajax and signed with the English side for $42 million.

However, Mikel Arteta is still not satisfied with this and has therefore asked the club's chiefs to bring in another midfielder in the January transfer window. The Spanish coach believes that it is not enough with the alternatives he has in that sector of the field, as he lost Granit Xhaka (he left for Bayer Leverkusen), while Thomas Partey has been out of the field for too long due to injuries.

That's why they targeted Arthur Vermeeren. The Belgian midfielder is just 18 years old and has already earned a place at Royal Antwerp. There he played 53 games since his debut in 2022. And this year, he is also playing in the Champions League for the first time, with two assists in his first three games. His talent, intelligence and passing ability have amazed fans, who consider him the 'new Andrés Iniesta'.

This obviously caught the attention of Barcelona. There Iniesta shone for almost two decades and that is why they are always interested in players who can fulfill the same role. Moreover, they happen to share Champions League Group H with Royal Antwerp and Xavi Hernandez has had the chance to see Vermeeren up close.

The Gunners were quicker

According to Sport, Arsenal were ahead of Barcelona and began negotiations with Royal Antwerp to sign Arthur Vermeeren. Mikel Arteta's insistence has been key to the club's chiefs deciding to make an offer for him: they are willing to pay $16 million for his transfer in January.