Arsenal have set their sights on prolific Brighton and Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma and are leading the race to sign him. The Japanese winger is having a breakthrough season in England and has impressed fans and oppositions with his dazzling skills and talent.

The 25-year-old is expected to be in heavy demand in the upcoming summer transfer market and reports suggest that Brighton could end up asking over £35million for him.

Arsenal, of course, have emerged as frontrunners and as they have a strong and positive business relationship with Brighton who have supplied them with several talents over the years. Ben White and Leandro Trossard are two men who made the switch from the Seagulls to the Gunners in recent years.

Arsenal were also extremely interested in signing Moises Caicedo during the recent transfer window and even though the midfielder put out a public statement saying that he would like to leave the club, the transfer didn’t come to fruition as both sides failed to come to an agreement over the transfer fee.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has now taken a strong interest in Kaoru Mitoma and wants to bolster his attack with his addition much like how they were targetting Mykhailo Mudryk before Chelsea landed the player at the Stamford Bridge.

Mitoma is a very unique player because his journey in football has been very different from the normal standard. The 25-year-old delayed signing a professional contract at homeland club Kawasaki Frontale aged 19.

He instead, decided to go to university and even wrote a thesis on dribbling which has attracted significant attention among fans online.

Mitoma ended up becoming a Premier League player when Brighton and Hove Albion decided to purchase him for a reported fee of just £2.7million. 

However, even after his arrival in England, he had to go out on loan and spent the last season with Belgian side Union Saint Gilloise.

He has been in incredible form this season and his performances in England have obviously made people take notice of his talent. Having played 20 matches, he has scored seven goals and has also registered two assists.

Mitoma’s contract with Brighton runs until 2025 and manager Roberto De Zerbi will be desperate to keep hold of him.