Arsenal and Barcelona Target Nicolò Tresoldi: A Striker on the Rise

Arsenal and Barcelona are on a collision course again. Different season, same battleground: the number nine position.

This time the name at the centre of it all is Nicolò Tresoldi, the Club Brugge striker who has gone from promising talent to one of the most coveted forwards in Europe in a matter of months.

Arsenal sharpen their focus

Having once chased Julián Álvarez along similar lines, the two clubs now find themselves tracking the same target again. Tresoldi, 22, has moved onto Arsenal’s radar as Mikel Arteta searches for a more ruthless edge in front of goal.

The message inside the Emirates is clear: the team must be more clinical. Viktor Gyökeres, brought in to help solve that problem, has not hit the level expected of him, and Arsenal are weighing up a January move, according to British newspaper The Sun.

Tresoldi ticks every box for them. Young but already decisive. A striker who can help immediately and still grow with the project. That blend does not come cheap.

The reported price sits at around £42 million, close to €48 million, a figure that underlines just how sharply his stock has risen. Roma tested Club Brugge’s resolve last summer with an offer of around €35 million. The Belgians simply said no.

Now, other reports suggest Brugge are holding out for closer to €60 million before they even think about letting him go. With Tresoldi under contract until 2029, they can afford to be stubborn. There is no fire sale coming, no rush to cash in.

Arsenal do have one subtle advantage. Last summer they struck a deal with Club Brugge for Christos Tzolis, paying around €40 million for the Greek winger. Tzolis and Tresoldi were close in Belgium, on and off the pitch, and the smooth negotiations between the clubs then may count for something when the conversation turns to another major deal.

Barcelona keep the striker in their sights

Barcelona, though, have not walked away. Their interest in Tresoldi predates this season’s explosion. He was already on the list last summer as an alternative to Julián Álvarez, a name quietly studied by the sporting department.

Hansi Flick’s idea of a centre-forward is clear: constant movement, intelligent link play, and a predator’s instinct inside the box. Tresoldi’s profile fits that template almost perfectly.

This season has only hardened that view. Nine goals in 12 matches, four of them in the Champions League. The night that truly changed the conversation came at San Siro, where he tore into Inter Milan with a stunning hat-trick, turning a big stage into his personal showcase.

Clubs noticed. Scouts talk. Shortlists get rewritten.

Arsenal and Barcelona are not alone. Milan, Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have all been linked, forming a queue that stretches across Europe. Everyone can see the same thing: a modern striker, already delivering, with years ahead of him.

Club Brugge hold the strongest position of all. Tresoldi’s deal runs to 2029, and they are under no pressure to sell in January. Their preference is clear: keep him at least until the end of the season, ride the wave, and only then decide how high the bidding needs to go.

So the stage is set. Arsenal, hunting for a sharper cutting edge. Barcelona, searching for the perfect Flick forward. A young striker with goals, suitors across the continent, and a club in no mood to fold.

Someone will eventually force Brugge to make a decision. The real question is who dares to blink first in a market where hesitation can cost you a decade’s worth of goals.