Bundesliga return provides the opportunity to look at Arsenal targets

While football is still some time away from resuming in England, and indeed across the rest of Europe and the world, Germany has taken the lead in this regard, with the Bundesliga set to resume its season from this weekend. Matches will be played behind closed doors, as was always going to be the case, but crucially, the remaining fixtures all look like they will be fulfilled, and in the order as they were in the original schedule. Further, the Bundesliga will be playing matches at all the teams’ stadiums, rather than going for the approach currently mooted and rejected by the Premier League’s clubs, that of using neutral venues. Thus, with the return of top-flight football imminent, football fans will be tuning in to finally get a taste of the sport which had been away for more than two months and the analysts on the India betting sites can finally put their predictions to the test. At the same time, this will also offer an opportunity for fans of certain clubs to have a look at their clubs’ prospective targets for the summer transfer window, whenever that may come about. For example, Manchester United fans will surely take these nine games to run the rule over Jadon Sancho, who is reportedly on his way to Old Trafford next season. For Arsenal fans, there are quite a few talents from the Bundesliga who could make the journey across the Channel to London, and these games offer a great opportunity to ‘scout’ them, as much as fans can scout transfer targets.

Arsenal are supposedly in the market for a top-quality centre-back, and rightly so, as neither of the current options available to Mikel Arteta inspire any confidence. It will thus be interesting to see how Dayot Upamecano, of RB Leipzig, fares against Freiburg this Saturday, and beyond as well. The France Under-21 international has been linked with Arsenal for some time now, but his status as one of the most promising centre-backs in world football means that there is a long list of admirers for his signature, and it would take a lot of convincing for him to pick the Emirates over some of his other alleged options.

The standout fixture of this weekend is the Ruhr derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke, and if reports are to be believed, Arsenal could be in for one of the players who could appear in that match, a World Cup-winner, no less. Yes, Mario Gotze, who scored the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final for Germany, is supposedly on his way out of the Westfalenstadion after his second spell there, and Arsenal are one of the clubs sniffing around. He would make for a cheap, proven attacking option, with the only question marks being around his fitness and whether he is still at his best, in terms of his ability.

Going back to Leipzig, and there is another player who has been linked with the Gunners who will be playing this weekend. Marcel Sabitzer is one of the underrated cogs of this RB Leipzig side, with most of the focus going towards Upamecano and striker Timo Werner, but he has played a big part in their rise up the table. The 26-year-old Austrian could be a very intelligent addition for Arsenal, as they are likely to lose Dani Ceballos once his loan spell from Real Madrid ends, and thus would potentially be in the market for a creative, attacking midfielder.

These are three of the names linked with Arsenal who will probably play some part during the Bundesliga’s return this weekend. Will they be at the Emirates next season? We will have to wait and watch, with these matches allowing fans to see for themselves if they would want any of these players as part of the Arsenal squad.