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."
