Dominik Szoboszlai has completed his €25 million (£22.5m/$30.5m) move to RB Leipzig, with Arsenal missing out on the highly-rated Hungarian winger.
The Gunners have been in the market for another creative midfielder, with too many options at Mikel Arteta’s disposal failing to live up to expectations.
Szoboszlai was said to be registering on the recruitment radar at Emirates Stadium, but he will not be heading to north London.
That is because Leipzig have made the most of their ties with Red Bull Salzburg to put a January agreement in place.
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All of the relevant paperwork has been completed for Szoboszlai to take on a new challenge, with the 20-year-old already in Germany to meet up with the Leipzig squad.
His signing can be considered quite a coup for the Bundesliga outfit, with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid also said to have been closely monitoring his development.
Eye-catching outings on domestic and continental stages brought Szoboszlai to the attention of leading sides across Europe, with two goals recorded through six Champions League outings.
Interest in securing his services started to rise once it became apparent that he would be available during the winter transfer window.
Leipzig have now won that race and will be adding him to an attacking talent pool that already includes Emil Forsberg, Dani Olmo, Christopher Nkunku and Justin Kluivert.
Szoboszlai will also have more Champions League football to look forward to in 2021, with Julian Nagelsmann’s side having dumped Manchester United out of that competition to book a last-16 tie with Liverpool.
Arsenal will be among the interested observers when the youngster heads to England for a possible outing at Anfield.
They would have preferred such trips to have been made on their books, with technical director Edu admitting that the Premier League heavyweights remain on the lookout for another playmaker.
He has said: “It’s quite clear what we need.
“We need a player with creativity in the middle. We don’t have that in the squad right now.”
Arsenal have taken to freezing Mesut Ozil out of their plans this season despite their struggles for creativity, with the World Cup winner waiting to see whether he will be brought back in from the cold in January.
Szoboszlai will have been freed to open an exciting new chapter in his career by then, with Bundesliga title hopefuls preparing to let him off the leash.
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