The Sun claims that Arsene Wenger is looking to bring in two young defenders with Manchester City’s Jason Denayer, 21, and Borussia Dortmund’s Matthias Ginter, 22, reportedly targets.
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Denayer has spent the past two seasons on loan at Celtic and Galatasaray and played for Belgium at EURO 2016 but has found getting ahead of Vincent Kompany, Nicolas Otamendi, Martin Demichelis and Eliaquim Mangala tough. Denayer has yet to make a first team appearance for City and with Leonardo Bonucci linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium this summer, he may not be in Pep Guardiola’s plans.
Per the report, Arsenal are said to have offered $7 million for Denayer in the past but City want closer to $20 million for their academy product who struggled when drafted into Belgium’s starting lineup for their quarterfinal defeat to Wales at EURO 2016.
Ginter is a German international who can play at center back or right back and that flexibility could lead Arsenal to take a punt on him. Ginter could cost just over $15 million but Dortmund are said to be willing to listen to offers with Wolfsburg also interested.
The Gunners have also been linked with another young defender as BBC Radio Manchester claim that Bolton Wanderers’ have received a bid from Arsenal for Rob Holding.
Holding, 20, plays for the England U-21 side and is a product of Bolton’s academy. He was voted their Player of the Season last year and with the Trotters playing in League One next season and having plenty of money issues in the past which are still being sorted out following a takeover at the end of last season, selling Holding for close to $3 million could help them substantially.
Marca claims that a long-time Arsenal target, Alvaro Morata, could be on his way to Chelsea.
Morata, 23, has played for Juventus for the past two seasons after leaving Real Madrid to get regular minutes after being held up by Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.
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Even though Real have now triggered their buy-back clause but Morata is still unsure as to exactly how he fits in to Zinedine Zidane’s plans. The report states he has requested a meeting with Zizou to find out if he will continue to sit behind “BBC” in the pecking order at the Santiago Bernabeu.
With Chelsea already signing Michy Batshuayi for $40 million from Marseille this summer, Antonio Conte also has Diego Costa among his forward options. The Italian manager was raving about Costa on Tuesday but if Morata arrives then Costa could head back to Atletico Madrid if the price is right. Morata would cost Chelsea over $60 million, even though Real just paid Juventus $30 million for him earlier this month.
Regardless of a potential move to Chelsea, Morata is due to return from vacation in the coming days and link up with Real Madrid in their training base in Montreal, Canada in the coming days ahead of their involvement in the International Champions Cup this summer in the USA.