Arsenal in talks to sign “insane” midfielder who could be their new Xhaka

Fatigue. That’s one of the primary reasons for Arsenal’s plight at the back end of this season.

Combine that with a misfiring attack and it’s hardly a surprise that the standards of Mikel Arteta’s team have dropped.

Over the last month and a half, the Gunners have crashed out of the FA Cup, lost the Carabao Cup final and surrendered a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Much has been made of the Gunners’ remarkable squad depth this season but not even that has been able to save them in the last few months of the season.

So, it’s set to be a busy summer, one in which we could see a plethora of departures to make space for new arrivals.

Arsenal’s summer plans lead them to exciting midfielder

The big fear for Arsenal supporters this summer is that they are forced to cash in on some of their most exciting players.

That’s not to say that someone like Bukayo Saka or Declan Rice will leave but it has sparked worries that Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly will be exiting.

Last season, the Hale End duo were in remarkable form but it’s been a totally different story in 2025/26. Their lack of football means they could be sold and because Arsenal would bank pure profit from their exits, it’s a curious proposition.

But, that does not mean Arsenal do not care about youth. Max Dowman is emerging, while they have agreed deals to sign Ecuadorian twins Holger and Edwin Quintero from Independiente del Valle, the same club that produced Moises Caicedo and Piero Hincapie to name a couple.

In a bid to improve their future even more, they could welcome Red Star Belgrade’s Vasilije Kostov to the Emirates Stadium.

Just 17 years of age, reports earlier this week suggested that Arsenal were actually closing in on signing the player in a bargain £10m transfer. A flight to London could even be arranged for later this week.

Yet, Fabrizio Romano insists that a deal isn’t quite wrapped up yet, despite talks advancing with Kostov’s agents.

Reporting the latest, Romano said: “Arsenal are following Kostov and they are following him closely. They made contact with people close to the player and are considering a move for him. It’s still early to say if they will close this deal but Arsenal have interest. They’ve been scouting and following this boy.”

Where Kostov could fit into the Arsenal team

It’s safe to say that one of the biggest issues in recent months has been the Arsenal midfield.

Forget their inability to create clear-cut chances to score from, without Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi at the top of their games, Arsenal’s press and ability to evade opposition pressing have fallen by the wayside.

Rice’s performance levels have not dipped disastrously but in Zubimendi, he can feel a little let down by his partner in crime.

In general, the Spaniard has been an excellent signing but is arguably paying the price for fatigue. No outfield player at the club has played more minutes in 2025/26 than the former Real Sociedad man.

Yet, Arteta appears to have struck gold with a small tactical tweak. Against Atletico on Wednesday, the two of them swapped roles. Rice played deeper as the holding midfielder and Zubimendi played in the 8.

You sense long-term that Arsenal are still searching for a resolution in that 8 position. It’s one they’ve struggled to really nail down since Granit Xhaka left in 2023.

Kai Havertz was billed as the natural replacement but has ended up playing as a striker and while Rice has thrived when operating further forward, you sense his qualities are best served deeper on the pitch.

So, could Kostov fix this problem? Let’s analyse his best qualities.

This season, the Serbian midfielder has played in several positions, not just as a right winger but also as a number 10, a number 8 and as a holding midfielder.

Aged just 17, the teenager is yet to nail down his best role but currently, you would have to say it’s further forward. From 22 outings as an attacking midfielder, Kostov has scored 12 goals and supplied four assists. In fact, across his last nine league games, he has found the net on six occasions.

As one analyst on social media put it, he has “one of the best arriving in the box abilities in world football.”

That’s a bold statement for someone so young but there’s a reason to believe here that he’s cut from a similar cloth as someone like Aaron Ramsey, someone who became renowned for scoring goals from midfield for Arsenal.

However, he’s arguably closer in style to 2022/23 Xhaka. That season, the Swiss operated as an 8. It got him closer to goal, albeit he could still drop deep to link play and provide line-breaking passes.

In fact, since moving to Sunderland this season, no player has made more line-breaking passes that lead to a goal than him (8).

In that regard, Kostov is similar. Como scout Ben Mattinson describes his best qualities as the following: “Kostov is a both-footed deep-lying-playmaker with close control in tight areas, quality ball striking from distance and game-breaking long passing.”

Further experts on the youngster’s game note that “his passing is insane and the amount of risky but great passes he does everywhere is amazing.

“He’s not much of a carrier or dribbler. But is really press resistant and has great ability on both feet.”

While Kostov may not have the duel-winning and dogged defensive reading of the game that Xhaka has, when it comes to passing, breaking open play and crashing the box, the two are closely aligned.

Perhaps this is finally the solution Arteta has been craving in a no.8 position.