Could Lucien Agoumé be the Partey replacement for Arsenal?
The Sevilla player is available, they might want an Arsenal player, Arsenal might have an opening for another midfielder. Is this a 1+1+1 equals 3 type situation?
It’s that time in the summer where the transfer rumors are a bit iffy but we are so desperate for news that we start going, “well maybe…” even if we know better.
That pretty accurately describes today’s focus: Lucien Agoumé, a 23-year-old Sevilla midfielder loosely linked to Arsenal. The sources that have linked the player to Arsenal are pretty thin and not overly reliable and I don’t put a ton of stock into it right now but at least there is a logic to it and that lets me entertain the move enough to have some fun writing about it here.
The scenario hinges on Thomas Partey, whose contract expires at the end of June 2025. If Partey rejects Arsenal’s renewal offer, a growing possibility on the latest reports are to be believed, Arsenal will almost certainly need a replacement. Sevilla, who had Arsenal’s Albert Sambi Lokonga on loan last season and reportedly valued him enough where they would like to have him again permanently, face financial constraints that make them open to selling just about all the players on their roster to sales. This could open the door to a rare swap deal between the teams or simply a transfer for Agoumé to Arsenal.
It’s a long shot, but worth monitoring as the transfer window unfolds.
Let’s break down Agoumé’s profile. He emerged from Sochaux’s academy in France, signed with Inter Milan at 17, but only made 4 appearances (73 minutes) for them. Loans to Spezia, Brest, Troyes, and Sevilla followed, with Sevilla securing him permanently in 2024 for €4 million. His development has been stop-start with the different loans, but his potential is clear.
If you read Adam’s player ratings, he is a player that has featured prominently before and you might be familiar with, ranking as a top 10 option on the stats scouting.
His stats this season are solid and more skewed towards ball winning but overall, he doesn’t show massive deficiencies in his game that would raise a red flag for me.
He’s still on the younger side and given the bit of the start stop development it isn’t crazy to think if he got a permanent home somewhere he could blossom further (to be fair that would still be hard at Arsenal where he’d likely still be looking at only a few thousand minutes per season as a rotation option to start with).
His stats over the last few years back up the view that this is already a fairly high-level player and one that for his age looks quite promising and a good bet to continue to develop, with upside well beyond the current solid player level he is at.
For a club like Arsenal, I would like to see more passing from a player in this position but that is a skill that tends to develop in the 20’s and he is starting from a level that isn’t a problem.
I don’t want to go too deep on this level of rumor but overall I think this looks pretty favorable for the player.
As a final bit of fun, here is this season compared to Martin Zubimendi, Thomas Partey, and Declan Rice.
Overall, he seems to come out pretty solid here.
If thing line up this could be an interesting link and an option for Arsenal to fill out the midfield numbers.