Quantcast
Home   >   Transfer News   >   Arsenal in talks over deal for £40m La Liga star – reports

Arsenal in talks over deal for £40m La Liga star – reports

By on August 18, 2016

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal are in negotiations with Atletico Madrid over what would be a stunning deal to sign £40m-rated centre-back Jose Gimenez.

As we all know, Arsene Wenger is desperately trying to bring in another central defender over the next fortnight after losing Gabriel and Per Mertesacker to injury.

The boss has been looking in to possible alternatives as our move for reported prime target Shkodran Mustafi has been stalling, with the club seemingly unwilling to meet Valencia’s £25m asking price.

Several names have been put forward by the world’s media and the latest is Jose Gimenez, with the Daily Mail claiming that we’ve entered talks with Atletico to discuss a potential deal for the young defender.

The newspaper suggests that Gimenez would be open to the idea of joining Arsenal but we’ll have to pay close to £40m to sign the highly-rated Uruguayan international – and unsurprisingly Wenger has ‘baulked’ at the Spaniard’s valuation.

It’s safe to say that if Arsene isn’t prepared to spend £25m on Mustafi it’s difficult to see him splashing out £40m on Gimenez so Atletico would need to substantially lower their valuation for a deal to happen.

Obviously Wenger may rate Gimenez higher than Mustafi and may be willing to pay a slight premium for the 21-year-old, but I would still be surprised if Arsenal were to spend over £30m on a centre-back given that we also desperately need to sign a top class striker.

It’s a shame as Gimenez would be a sensational signing as the South American has become one of the best young defenders in European football since establishing himself in Diego Simeone’s starting eleven 12 months ago.

MORE: Arsenal in talks over signing of £13m defender

I’d love to see us sign him but still think Mustafi is the more realistic target. Valencia are clearly playing hardball but I expect us to get a deal agreed in the end.

It’s not going to happen in time for the German international to face Leicester on Saturday, but hopefully we’ll have him available to take on Watford next weekend.