Young Arsenal transfer target gives praise to Mikel Arteta

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has done an excellent job this season and it is getting noticed by transfer target Ivan Fresneda

In a recent interview with The Athletic’s Guillermo Rai, Ivan Fresneda revealed his thoughts on Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta:

"I like Arteta a lot because I think he’s a great coach; I follow the European leagues and I think the work he’s doing with his club is fantastic."

Furthermore, Ivan Fresneda’s camp revealed that Arsenal, along with Borussia Dortmund are still in contact with the Spanish defender.

Fresneda grew up in the Madrid area and played with various youth teams in the region before joining Real Madrid’s youth setup at 10 years old. After four years with the Spanish giants, Fresneda remained in the Madrid community by joining Leagnes’ youth academy. It was not until 2020 that Fresneda found himself joining Real Valladolid at 16 years old.

Fresneda like many talented youngsters in professional football, made their debut for the first team before making their debut for a B / U21 side. On January 5th, 2022, Fresneda started a Copa Del Rey match against Real Betis for Real Valladolid, and then just three days later started against Burgos CF in La Liga 2.

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After a brief taste of professional football with Real Valladolid, Fresneda remained with the U19s until he made his debut with Real Valladolid B in the Primera Federación (third tier) on March 6th, 2022. Fresneda went on to make regular starts for the reserve side for the remainder of the 21/22 season while regularly training with the first team.

With Real Valladolid earning a promotion to La Liga, Fresneda would have to impress the coaching staff in the summer of 2022 to become a full-time professional. He did just that and made his La Liga debut on September 9th against Girona. This season Fresneda has been a consistent starter for the club as they look to survive relegation from La Liga.

After sitting in the relegation zone for chunks of the season, Real Valladolid now finds themselves closing in on a top-half position, just five points off. Given the interest in Ivan Fresneda, Real Valladolid will likely be cashing in on the Spanish U19 international who has a £26.5M release clause in his contract, per The Athletic.

Arsenal are keeping a watchful eye on the youngster and with Fresneda being a big fan of Arteta, a transfer to North London begins to make even more sense.