Ally McCoist has endorsed Arsenal’s pursuit of Ilkay Gundogan and says signing the Manchester City midfielder would be a ‘bigger statement’ than Gabriel Jesus’ arrival at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners signed Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from Man City last summer and a targeting another one of of Pep Guardiola’s title winners ahead of this summer’s transfer window.
Arsenal have expressed interest in signing Gundogan on a free transfer, with the German star out of contract at the end of the season.
Manchester City are keen to secure his services for at least one more season but the 32-year-old is yet to commit as he would likely receive a considerable signing-on fee if he joined a new club on a free.
Jesus and Zinchenko both played their part in Arsenal’s encouraging but ultimately disappointing title challenge and Gundogan would help take the team to next level, according to McCoist.
‘This is an interesting one,’ the Rangers and Scotland legend told talkSPORT. ‘What a statement that would be.
‘It would be a bigger statement than Jesus. It would be a bigger statement than Zinchenko, for me.
‘You would be getting a brilliant player. The age factor doesn’t really come into it, nowadays, for 32-year-olds. They have kept themselves meticulously fit and they are great professionals. And he is certainly that.
‘The only negative is that you don’t have a sell-on. But that’s balanced by the fact that you are going to get him on a free transfer.
‘He is a big occasion player, that’s exactly what he is. Everybody will be after him.’
Gundogan has won five Premier League titles since joining Manchester City in 2016 and scored four goals in his last four appearances to help Guardiola’s side overhaul long-time leaders Arsenal and reach the Champions League final.
Earlier this month, Guardiola described Gundogan as ‘one of the best players’ he has ever worked with.
He said: ‘I remember one season when we won the second Premier League when Fernandinho was injured for a long time and he played as holding midfielder in games like against Burnley away with the long balls, second balls and… wow… he played.
‘I said I had the feeling that without him we couldn’t win the Premier League. But we’ve got Gundo and he’s so intelligent, so clever and competitive.
‘Under pressure he handles it without a problem. He’s one of the best players I ever trained in my career in terms of the whole package. He’s top, top class.’
Manchester City secured a third successive league title at the weekend and will look to complete a historic treble next month when they face Inter Milan and Manchester United in the Champions League and FA Cup finals respectively.
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