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Arsenal ‘Hold Formal Talks’ Over 21 Goal Striker – Report

By on June 8, 2014

Arsenal have held formal talks with Real Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay about the future of Carlos Vela, according to reports in Spain.

Vela has flourished in Spain after failing to establish himself during a six-year stint at Arsenal between 2005-2011 which saw him spend much of his time out on loan.

With 21 goals and 13 assists last season, the Mexican has attracted interest from a whole host of top European clubs with Atletico Madrid among those chasing the £20m attacker, while there has also been talk of a return to north London as we can re-sign him for just €4m due to a buy-back clause we inserted into his contract when we sold him two years ago.

Sociedad are understandably keen to keep hold of the 25-year-old and Spanish paper Mundo Deportivo claims that president Jokin Aperribay flew in to London on Friday to hold talks with Arsenal officials about securing a deal to remove our buy-back option.

It’s understood we want around £10m but Sociedad are struggling to come up with the money so they are considering selling off some of their squad players, while there has also been the suggestion that we are using our clause on Vela as leverage to secure Antoine Griezmann on the cheap.

Whether this option was discussed with the Sociedad president is unclear, but I certainly hope it was. Griezmann is a superb talent and I’d love to see him come to Arsenal. The French international has bags of pace and is a regular goal-scorer, so he’d be a useful addition to the squad.

There is also the possibility we were discussing triggering the buy-back clause and re-signing Vela, but if Arsene isn’t interested in bringing the Mexican international back, it would make sense to use our buy-back option to reduce the price for Griezmann.