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Offer made: Arsenal submit formal bid to sign £30m World Cup star

By on July 25, 2018

According to reports in Turkey via TeamTalk, Arsenal have submitted an offer to sign Besiktas centre-back Domagoj Vida as Unai Emery looks to further strengthen his defensive options this summer.

Emery has already brought-in Sokratis from Borussia Dortmund but with Per Mertesacker retired, Laurent Koscielny facing months out through injury and doubts continuing over Shkodran Mustafi it seems the boss wants another centre-back.

Vida has now emerged as a prime target as TeamTalk are citing a report from Milliyet that claims Arsenal have made contact with Besiktas and submitted a formal offer to sign the Croatian international.

The Turkish publication doesn’t state what our supposed bid was worth but they do suggest that Besiktas value Vida at around £30m having already rejected £20m bids from Liverpool and West Ham.

Speculation suggests that both clubs are still in the running to sign Vida so Arsenal will face competition for his signature but it looks like Emery has a serious interest in bringing the defender to north London – if these reports are accurate.

Vida only joined Besiktas in January from Dinamo Kiev but has caught the attention of several top clubs following his excellent performances at the World Cup where he helped Croatia reach their first ever final before being beaten by France.

Obviously when any player performs well at the World Cup his value soars but I think Besiktas are being a little optimistic if they think they’ll get £30m for Vida considering he’s 29 and has never performed in a top European league.

He is a powerful, aggressive centre-back so he should adapt to life in England well if he does come to these shores this summer but I think Arsenal should look elsewhere if we want another centre-back.

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We’ve already splashed out around £18m on 30-year-old Sokratis so we should be looking to bring in a younger defender who has the potential to develop under Emery and will see his value increase over the coming years.