Journalist Charles Watts has urged Arsenal to break the rule of signing younger players to land Ilkay Gundogan this summer.
Will Arsenal sign Gundogan?
Ahead of the current season, Mikel Arteta raided Manchester City and came away with notable signings in Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
As a result, those two helped the Gunners become an unexpected new force in the Premier League, albeit one which fell just short of winning the title.
With Arsenal looking to close the gap between second and first next season, it appears they could look to City again.
Indeed, The Athletic have reported that the North London side have a "concrete interest" in Gundogan, with Arteta "driving it" having worked with the German before at the Etihad Stadium.
Of course, though, the midfielder is now 32 years of age and this could go against the club's keenness to build on youth – as shown by them having one of the youngest teams in the league this season.
While talking about the rumours on his YouTube channel, however, Watts insisted that it would be worth breaking this rule to land Gundogan.
He said (2:36): “Doesn't need any time to adjust and could just come in and hit the ground running, be that big leader behind the scenes. I don't see a problem with that.
"I think some people might, someone will be like: Well, no, that's not long-term thinking, is it?
“But you can't continue just signing players between 21 and 23. You've got to occasionally break that rule to sign more experienced players.
“And they did it, as I said, with Jorginho."
He later added (3:11): “But with Gundogan, I just think he adds so much quality. I think he's perfect for this system that Arsenal play.
"He'd be a fantastic signing on a short-term deal. As long as Arsenal don’t offer him a four-year deal or something like that – which I cannot imagine they would. I think it'd potentially be a really smart piece of business."
Who wants to sign Gundogan?
It has been reported that Barcelona also hold a firm interest, while Manchester City could yet still tie him to a new deal.
However, his £140k-p/w contract does end this summer so he could be available to sign as a bargain-free transfer.
As Watts mentions, the club have focused on younger signings with Jorginho the only player over 30 to arrive since the summer 2021 transfer window.
With that in mind, the club would be breaking a bit of a rule but Gundogan could be worth it seeing as he has won the league five times and that experience could be vital next term.