Johan Bakayoko has already told Arsenal transfer ambition as Champions League audition set

Arsenal have been drawn to face PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League round of 16 next month, with one task being to stop talented attacker Johan Bakayoko.

Playing primarily from the right flank, the 21-year-old has advanced through the club's youth ranks straight into the senior squads of Ruud van Nistelrooy and now Peter Bosz. Resulting performances have gained continental recognition - even the Gunners have been linked with transfer interest as recently as last summer.

But amid interest from the Premier League and afar, the player himself made the overriding decision to stay with the Dutch champions for the 2024/25 season.

And PSV should be thankful. They remain in the hunt for the Eredivisie title once again, aided by his seven goals and one assist so far.

In the Champions League he has another two strikes and one assist to his name. One of those goals came against Liverpool in the final league phase match, sitting two defenders on the ground before firing beyond Caoimhin Kelleher.

His side also remain in the fight for the KNVB Cup alongside those two pieces of silverware.

Ever present too, that is another quality Mikel Arteta will desire in an attacker that possesses a natural abundance of flair. The Arsenal boss has found that hard to come by amongst his attackers this season with injuries wreaking havoc.

A Bukayo Saka-shaped hole is currently gaping wide open at the Emirates Stadium - if only there was somebody to fill it. Bakayoko has the opportunity to prove that role could come to him when the two-legged battle commences in March.

Such an audition would place him in good stead for a summer switch - if not to Arsenal then to another one of Europe's elite teams. This is something the Belgian has already hinted towards.

"It is also possible that I will leave next year, but I still have to discuss it carefully with my agent. It will also partly depend on PSV, where I will play next season," he told Eindhovens Dagblad last summer.

"I can handle a place at the top. If I were to leave Eindhoven, it would only be to a club that plays for trophies, just like PSV. Becoming champion is what I want. And win the Champions League. I have the qualities for that.

"PSV has won the title and achieved something again in Europe. That mission has been completed, but now we have to see whether there will be a next mission and what the club has left for me."

The Gunners will go to the Philips Stadion in the first leg of their tie against Bakayoko and Co. before returning home for the second leg at the Emirates Stadium.

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