Helping Empoli return to Serie A last season, Ismael Bennacer continued his great form in Italy’s top flight for the 2018-19 campaign.
His complete performances in midfield attracted a lot of attention around Europe, especially in Serie A’s upper echelons, with clubs such as Inter and Napoli queuing outside his agent’s office.
As soon as these rumours appeared in mid-April, Arsenal were mentioned, as Bennacer’s former club allegedly had a buy-back clause for the Algeria international, having sold him to Empoli for £900k back in 2017.
Le10 Sport were the ones to bring the news, but the details surrounding the Gunners’ deal were scarce.
Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy help us out a little bit on Friday in a brief interview with Bennacer, explaining, before we get to the midfielder’s quotes, that Arsenal’s clause allows them to ‘match the largest bid’.
There’s a belief the former Gunner would cost teams around €12m, but the London club being able to simply swoop in at will makes them a ‘scary rival’ for Italian clubs.
There is, of course, the possibility that Arsenal are not interested in bringing the 21-year-old back, which would make everything very easy for Serie A sides.
That, and the fact Bennacer can simply refuse the Gunners’ offer should one land on his table.
