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Unsettled £50m attacker desperate to join Arsenal this summer

By mac14 on July 8, 2017

According to the Mirror, Riyad Mahrez is desperate to join Arsenal this summer but has been left frustrated as he feels Leicester’s £50m valuation is pricing him out of the move.

Mahrez came close to joining Arsenal last summer before opting to sign a new deal at the King Power and lead the Foxes in to their maiden Champions League campaign.

However, the Algerian international is now ready for a move after submitting a transfer request at the end of last season and he’s once again been strongly linked with a move to the Emirates.

The Daily Mail reported late last week that Arsenal officials have opened talks with Leicester and made it clear we’re prepared to pay £35m to sign Mahrez this summer but that falls short of their £50m valuation.

That asking price hasn’t gone down well with Mahrez as the Mirror claim the attacker is desperate to join Arsenal and is furious as he feels the £50m valuation is pricing him out of a move to north London.

Mahrez returned to pre-season training yesterday facing an uncertain future as Arsene Wenger is refusing to meet Leicester’s asking price and it seems the Foxes are holding firm with their valuation.

The Mirror claim that the situation has led to Arsenal focussing their attention on signing Monaco star Thomas Lemar as Wenger see’s the 21-year-old as better value for money.

We’ve supposedly seen a second £40m bid rejected for the French international but given his age and potential, he would be a better buy even if we had to pay the £50m that Leicester are demanding for Mahrez.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this all develops over the coming weeks but I’d be happy to see either Mahrez or Lemar join Arsenal this summer.

READ: Arsenal agree personal terms with £80m-rated star

Mahrez is proven in the Premier League and should be available for slightly less than Monaco will want for Lemar but the youngster is a huge talent who has the potential to develop in to one of the best attackers in the world.

So either player would be an exciting addition, however, my concern is that Wenger is lining-up them up as potential replacements for Alexis Sanchez and it would be devastating to see him leave this summer.