Arsenal send scouts to watch USA Under-20 star in Croatia: report

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta gestures during his side's 3-1 win over Manchester United in September 2023.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Arsenal scouts have reportedly been watching American teenager Rokas Pukstas ahead of the January transfer window opening.

The USA Under-20 international plies his trade for Croatian side Hajduk Split and plays as a central midfielder.

The Oklahoma-born 19-year-old has scored three goals in nine league games for his club this season, despite spending almost three months on the sidelines with injury.

Rokas Pukstas

Pukstas featured for the USA at the Under-20 World Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Sun says that Gunners scouts have watched Pukstas in action, who they liken in style to Thomas Muller, as they consider bringing in another American player.

Pukstas joined Hajduk from Barcelona’s American youth academy in September 2020 and has risen through the ranks at the Croatian side. 

The teenager made his senior debut in April last year and has a deal to 2027 in Split.

Rokas Pukstas USA

Pukstas won the Croatian Cup last season (Image credit: Getty Images)

He helped Hajduk win the Croatian Cup last season, scoring four goals, and was part of the USA side that won the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship in April 2022.

Pukstas also represented his country at the Under-20 World Cup this summer and came off the bench to score in a 4-0 win over New Zealand in the last 16 before featuring as a substitute when they exited to Uruguay in the quarter-finals.

The midfielder is valued at €3 million (£2.5m) by Transfermarkt after a year in which the website says his value has tripled.

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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.