In the race to win their first English league title since 2004, Arsenal already have their eyes set on the next summer transfer window. The Gunners are moving for a former French league striker who is now playing in Germany.
Premier League leaders with a two-point advantage over Manchester City, Arsenal are living up to their billing and are once again allowing themselves to dream of winning the English league title that has continued to slip through their fingers in recent years. Overtaken by Manchester City and Liverpool in the previous two campaigns, Mikel Arteta's Gunners gave themselves the means to overturn their rivals by completing a big summer transfer window, concluded with total spending of nearly £300m.
Second-best attack in the division (25 goals) and best defence of this 2025-26 season (seven goals conceded), the London capital club must nevertheless anticipate possible movements in the coming months. Behind the scenes, Arsenal are already working on their future squad composition. The English directors have identified a position that it will doubtless be necessary to fill, that of left winger.
French Bundesliga winger appeals to Arsenal
Performing well in recent weeks before suffering an ankle injury, Belgian attacking midfielder Leandro Trossard could have changed scenery last summer and the question of a departure for the former Brighton and Hove Albion player, under contract until June 2027, could arise again. The same applies to his competitor Gabriel Martinelli, who has scored four goals in four Champions League matches. The Brazil international is also coming to the end of his Arsenal contract (+ one-year option) and has still not extended.
What if the lucky one were French? That is the hypothesis put forward by German channel Sky Germany who believe they know that the English have positioned themselves on a French left winger who has played in the French league: Jean-Matteo Bahoya. The Eintracht Frankfurt player is amongst the profiles targeted by Arsenal ahead of the 2026-27 season. For now, the Gunners have not yet begun concrete discussions on this case.
Arsenal must pay £60m for Bahoya
Bought in January 2024 by Eintracht Frankfurt for €8m (£6.8m), the former Angers player is not an undisputed starter under Dino Toppmöller. Having scored a brace on the opening Bundesliga matchday against Werder Bremen (4-1), the France Under-21 international has earned six starts in 11 league matches since the start of the 2025-26 campaign. The same trend in the Champions League with two appearances in the starting XI during the first five matchdays, without a goal or assist.
Despite this insufficient record, Jean-Matteo Bahoya's market value has experienced good growth in just a few months. Eintracht Frankfurt, a Bundesliga stronghold who have managed to complete huge sales in recent times – Randal Kolo Muani (€95m/£83m), Hugo Ekitike (€95m/£83m) and Omar Marmoush (€75m/£64m) being the finest examples – are considering another enormous profit on the Montfermeil native.
Eintracht Frankfurt intend to demand around €70m (£60m) for the 20-year-old winger. A huge sum that aims to drive up the bidding ahead of the next summer transfer window. With the hope that by the end of this season, Jean-Matteo Bahoya proves decisive in big matches and catches the eye of other European heavyweights.
This article was originally published on Top Mercato.
