Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Arsenal news: Unai Emery backed to sign Serie A star on ONE condition
ARSENAL signing Roma striker Patrik Schick would only make sense if Unai Emery sees him as a Plan B type of player.
Arsenal could sign Patrik Schick as backup striker says Mariner
That is according to ESPN FC pundit and former Arsenal and England striker Paul Mariner.
Schick has been linked with a move to the Emirates in recent days.
Reports have claimed the Gunners are prepared to offer Aaron Ramsey to Roma as part of a deal for Schick.
Ramsey is out of contract at Arsenal at the end of the season and looks set to leave the club for free.
If he’s a Plan B type of a player, I can understand what Unai Emery’s trying to do
Schick initially joined Roma on loan from Sampdoria in the summer of 2017 with an obligation for Roma to make the deal permanent.
However, he has scored just four goals in 35 appearances for Roma and has found regular starts hard to come by behind star forward Edin Dzeko.
Mariner says Schick is a different kind of striker to current Arsenal frontmen Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
The pundit does not think a deal will happen but can understand if Gunners Emery wants an alternative to the likes of Aubameyang and Lacazette.
Danny Welbeck is also likely to miss the majority of the season with a broken ankle.
“No (he isn’t going to Arsenal),” Mariner said of Schick.
“If he’s a Plan B type of a player, I can understand what Unai Emery’s trying to do.
“You can see what he’s doing, he’s the understudy to Dzeko at Roma.
“If they want the Plan B, Arsenal, then it makes sense.
“But as far as the play going forward with that quick movement, that passing and moving and quick stuff, I just don’t see it.
“I’m going to say no.”
Schick has won 12 caps for his country, scoring four goals.
He scored his first goal of the season for Roma in the 4-1 win over Sampdoria on Sunday.