March and Gross linked with top six moves
There may still be two months of the Premier League season to go, but already the summer rumour mill is starting to whir into action.
Two Brighton and Hove Albion players have found themselves on the gossip carousel in recent days. Pascal Gross is being linked with Liverpool once again and Solly March is apparently interesting the powers that be at Arsenal.
Speculation was rife in the lead up to the January transfer window that a bid for Gross could be forthcoming from Anfield. £15m was apparently what the Red’s were going to offer and although most of us dismissed it as paper nonsense, the fact that the story is still rumbling on three months later suggests there may be more substance to it than first thought.
Gross for his part has remained the model professional. In an interview with Goal.com, the German playmaker said, “Of course it is an honour when such rumours arise, but I have not heard anything concrete”, which some are bizarrely reporting as a signal that Gross wants to leave the Amex. Sounds more like politely batting away the question to us.
His departure would represent a real blow to the Albion. Although he hasn’t hit the heights of his debut campaign in England in which he scored seven times, registered eight assists and was a convincing Player of the Season winner, he’s still been a worthy contributor despite an injury hit few months.
There are certain elements of the Seagulls support who have incredibly given up on a man who did more than most to ensure our Premier League adventure wasn’t just a one-season voyage. The calls for him to be replaced by Yves Bissouma in the starting line up were growing ever strong before Gross’ latest injury, picked up in the defeat away at Leicester City.
These calls seem to be based on nothing more than Bissouma liking to dance and having a catchy song, while the kids can’t get their heads around the fact that Gross doesn’t having a Twitter or Instagram account and so don’t like him as a result.
Should Liverpool’s interest transpire to be true, you’d hope we will secure a lot more than £15m for Gross. A player who can score, assist and create in the manner that he does should be pushing nearer the £25m mark which would represent a huge return on somebody signed for £3m from Ingolstadt.
March’s link with Arsenal meanwhile is a new one to us. Several sites carried the story earlier in the week, saying that Gunners scouts have noted his performances in a season in which he has registered three goals and seven assists. That number of assists in particular is impressive, leaving him level with Mohamed Salah and ahead of Marcus Rashford and David Silva.
It isn’t just March’s ability on the pitch that will appeal to Arsenal either. They are set to lose Aaron Ramsey to Juventus on a free this summer, depriving them of one of their home-grown quota. March would be seen as a possible replacement for the Serie A-bound midfielder, if for nothing other than the fact that he is ticks the British box as well as having the potential to make a difference in a variety of positions.
An article regarding the rumours on TEAMtalk eludes to that. It says “Arsenal scouts have been so impressed with March’s potential that they believe he could progress quickly and challenge for a first-team place at the Emirates, if they pushed ahead with a deal.”
It must be remembered that March is still only 24 years old. Because he broke into the Albion first team at the age of 19, it feels like he has been around forever but he is still someway off his peak. He’s also bounced back from a career-threatening knee injury which kept him on the shelf for 11 months.
Nobody seems to be suggesting a price for March, other than one Arsenal blog which laughably reckons the Gunners could pick him up for £5m. Given that we sold our third choice centre back to the Scottish Pub League for that price in the summer, there is absolutely no way that Tony Bloom is flogging our most creative Premier League performer for the same fee.
With the premium attached to English players skyrocketing all the time and the fact that March only signed a new four year contract in the summer after attracting the attentions of Fulham, we’d start the bidding at £20m. Minimum.
