Doue will put Arsenal on red alert, nullify hottest properties must be priority

His last name translates as 'gifted' and Desire Doue certainly makes up for invoicing.

The exploits of the 19-year-old against Manchester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa in the Champions League have this season transformed the Paris Saint-Germain star into one of the most popular properties of Europe, so much even that City explores a summer movement for him.

It is why Arsenal, who looked at the Frenchman last season when he was in Rennes, will be a red alert for the threat he forms first stage in the Emirates on Tuesday evening for their Champions League Semi-final.

Gunners -Baas Mikel Arteta was aware of the potential of Doue long before his versions in this competition, because they think about reinforcements in broad areas last summer.

Chelsea and Manchester United also followed Doue, who likes to accept opponents with his skills, deception and pace. But in August, while others, PSG paid £ 43 million for a teenager who still had to settle in Rennes.

It was a risk, but the relocation has paid off, his value has risen considerably in just eight months because he conquers France and Europe with a storm.

Doue has 13 goals and 12 assists in 47 games this season. At 5ft 11 he is not the highest, but his long legs enable him to move forward with speed and manipulate the ball in tight spaces. His relaxed style of dribbling is deceiving opponents.

Then there is Doue's ability to play on both wings and as an attacking midfielder. It corresponds to a very attractive package.

The PSG turning has been remarkable. Since the 2-0 defeat by Arsenal in the competition phase on October 1, manager Luis Enrique has used the teenager as an interchangeable figure on the right wing of the team, with Doue or Bradley Barcola combined with Ousmane Dembele and KhvaCa Kvaratskhelia.

As a quartet they have a spearhead victories on an abundance of English parties, while PSG is trying to reach a first Champions League final since 2020.

Dembele and Kvaratskhelia have long been proven players at this level, but the teenager has risen from a promising talent to a reliable player through some game-definating moments.

The first match of this series was the 4-2 victory over the city in Parc des Princes in January during the competition phase, in which his aggressive dribbling seemed. His second half strike returned from the bar and fell to Barcola, who tapped to bring the score to 2-2 in a crucial stage.

Doue then played in the last 16 as a second half replacement over two legs against Liverpool. He forced Alisson in one of his best saves of the night in Parc de Princes, before he tangled the Reds in Anfield, where he scored the decisive fine in the shootout victory.

And, in his most enchanting display so far, he hit a stunning, curled equalizer against Aston Villa in their quarter-final first leg, after which PSG 5-4 won.

Today's Doue and PSG are very different from those who were confronted with the Gunners in October.

In that loss, PSG looked incoherent and the attacker was replaced at 64 minutes. He occasionally had a trip forward, but had trouble having a lot of influence in the last third part.

It followed a pattern when the Ligue 1 champions picked up only four points of a possible 15 in their first five Champions League matches, characterized by a gap between Enrique and Star Forward Dembele, who was dropped out of the team in October after he had become too late to the training.

When he was asked about the defeat, Enrique said: “That was seven or eight months ago. There are huge differences between occasionally.

'I rated the game and saw how far our game has come and we are better now. We are a more complete team.

“Our next goal is to rewrite history and there is only one way to do that.”

The warning signals for Arsenal are there, with a destruction of Doue High on the list.

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