Levante looking to land Gunner
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Levante have confirmed they are hoping to bring Arsenal youngster Carlos Vela to the Primera Liga next season.
The teenage Mexican striker has yet to make a first team appearance for The Gunners due to the fact he does not qualify for a work permit, and his ongoing Spanish adventure looks set to continue into a third season.
After joining Celta Vigo on loan for the second half of the 2005/2006 season, Vela spent last term with Salamanca in the Segunda Division and caught the eye with a number of promising performances.
The top scorer in the 2005 World Under 17 Championships in Peru contributed seven goals in 27 games for Salamanca and has been likened to Mexican legend Hugo Sanchez.
With his eligibility still a concern for Arsenal, Arsene Wenger is believed to be keen to see Vela accrue some top flight experience next season, and Levante are now hoping to confirm his arrival with the fortnight.
"Vela is a very interesting player, [but] the operation is still not closed," Levante sporting director Manuel Salvador told Mexican newspaper Diario de Yucatan.
"Everything depends on Arsenal.
"There are some problems, because he is a non-EU player. It has some disadvantages, but nothing else."
Vela joined Arsenal in November 2005 at the tender age of 16, for a reported fee of £2.5million, but the former Guadalajara striker has found his feet in European football almost exclusively in Spain.
The Mexican youth international impressed at Salamanca this season, and Vela insists the club will always hold a special place in his heart after helping to launch his career.
"The goodbye moved me so much," said Vela, after his final game for the club. "I am human, and just as you remember me playing here I will remember you as well.
"The best memory I can take is my first goal.
"With that I obtained the confidence necessary to improve and thanks to that there is the option for me to go to a first division team." -
Vela's damn good, should not be sold
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Arsenal has too many talented young players. Keep him.
Cheers.
CK