{"id":1766,"date":"2026-04-02T17:27:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=1766"},"modified":"2026-04-02T17:27:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:27:41","slug":"arsenal-urged-to-beat-chelsea-in-summer-transfer-race-for-ex-real-madrid-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=1766","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal urged to beat Chelsea in summer transfer race for ex-Real Madrid star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_68255d\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Como ace Nico Paz, who was once of Real Madrid, has shone for the Italian side and Arsenal have been encouraged to pursue the Argentine despite interest from the likes of Chelsea<\/h2>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36960152\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nico Paz has excelled in an impressive Como outfit\" loading=\"eager\" sizes=\"(max-width: 508px) 508px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36960152.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_GettyImages-2268311734.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36960152.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s508\/0_GettyImages-2268311734.jpg 508w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36960152.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615\/0_GettyImages-2268311734.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36960152.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_GettyImages-2268311734.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Nico Paz has excelled in an impressive Como outfit\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Nico Paz has excelled in an impressive Como outfit<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Arsenal have been urged to land Como&#8217;s Nico Paz this summer despite former club Real Madrid having a buy-back option and Chelsea also being keen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The Gunners have continued to invest heavily in their squad and, more recently, spent big to land the likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze. They have helped spearhead their pursuit of the Premier League this term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Now Owen Hargreaves thinks they should go after Paz, who has been a shining light in a Como side that have exceed expectations in Serie A. They sit in the Champions League spots with the Argentine midfielder scoring 11 times in all competitions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Paz, who is managed by former Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas, has been at the Italian side since 2024 when he left Los Blancos. The Spanish giants are believed to have the option to re-sign Paz but Hargreaves thinks Arsenal need to move for the 21-year-old, who could see his stock rise at the World Cup this summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The former England star said on <a aria-label=\"TNT SportsLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tntsports.co.uk\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">TNT Sports<\/a>: &#8220;There\u2019s a young lad at Como, Nico Paz. There\u2019s an option for him to go back to Real Madrid but if I\u2019m Arsenal\u2026 This kid \u2013 you\u2019ll see him at the World Cup. Mikel Arteta will already know that this boy will be a star and if you don\u2019t ask you don\u2019t get. A player like that could suit Arsenal.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_de167e\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\">Viktor Gyokeres sends key Arsenal message Mikel Arteta will love ahead of title run-in<\/span><\/span><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_de167e\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\">Premier League confirm TV picks as Man Utd get rare slot and Man City handed title boost<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Fabregas has seen Paz&#8217;s quality up close and he looks like a bargain having joined for just \u20ac6million (\u00a35.2m). Back in November he said: &#8220;Nico does incredible things. He is a footballer capable of pulling a trick out of his hat at any moment.&#8221; Last week he doubled down on that view as he said: &#8220;He sees the goal, he is not afraid. Nico enjoys playing, he can play different roles and he is very complete player. I see a very, very big potential in him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Arsenal may have to make several decisions regarding their frontline this summer. Ethan Nwaneri has had to head out on loan with Mikel Arteta struggling to give all of his players their desired game time.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-36960158\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36960158\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Argentine was previously at Real Madrid, who could look to bring him back\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36960158.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_GettyImages-1851941437.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36960158.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_GettyImages-1851941437.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36960158.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_GettyImages-1851941437.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36960158.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_GettyImages-1851941437.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"The Argentine was previously at Real Madrid, who could look to bring him back\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The Argentine was previously at Real Madrid, who could look to bring him back<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Eze and Madueke are among the wide options available to him with Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus vying for the No 9 shirt. Kai Havertz remains a versatile option.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Despite that wealth of attacking talent Arsenal have been criticised for an over reliance on set pieces. The Gunners have set records for the amount of goals they&#8217;ve scored from dead ball situations, leading to suggestions they lack a cutting edge in open play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/Feq1SEG6mXDIZGTTnek7oz\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"><em>Join our new WhatsApp community<\/em> <\/a>and receive your daily dose of <em>Mirror<\/em> <em>Football<\/em> content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don&#8217;t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you&#8217;re curious, you can read our <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reachplc.com\/site-services\/privacy-policy\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"><em>Privacy Notice.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Como ace Nico Paz, who was once of Real Madrid, has shone for the Italian side and Arsenal have been encouraged to pursue the Argentine despite interest from the likes of Chelsea Nico Paz has excelled in an impressive Como outfit Arsenal have been urged to land Como&#8217;s Nico Paz this summer despite former club [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}