Triple winter exit part of Arsenal plan to land Milan, Liverpool target
A report in Italy claims Arsenal are working on a plan to raise enough funds to beat Milan to the signature of Lille star Renato Sanches in January.
The Gunners are one of a number of clubs keen to land the Portugal international this winter. Liverpool have also been linked while Wolves have also been mentioned as suitors. It was reported on Tuesday that they hoped to use their connection with Sanches’s agent, Jorge Mendes, to lure him to Molineux.
But, with a few heavyweights in the picture, the West Midlanders may well miss out. The 24-year-old seems keen on a move away from the Ligue 1 outfit.
In a recent interview, the former Bayern Munich schemer spoke about the clubs that are keen and revealed he is prepared to move.
“Maybe Milan and Arsenal are interested but I don’t know,” he told L’Equipe. “I spoke with my agent, I know which clubs are calling and which are not, but I can’t tell now. I know I’m ready. “If an offer comes in, I’ll find out what’s best for me.”
On Tuesday, Calciomercato (via Sport Witness) stated Arsenal should be ‘warned’ that the Rossoneri are ‘serious’ about the midfielder. But the same outlet have now switched focus to the north Londoners.
They suggest the Emirates outfit are ‘looking for funds’ to bring the former Swansea City loan star to the capital. And they add that Mikel Arteta wants the deal done ‘as early as January’.
Sanches deal to see Arsenal trio jettisoned
The Italian website state that Gunners technical director Edu knows three players he can sell to raise €55m. The trio are Alexandre Lacazette, Eddie Nketiah and Bernd Leno.
Calciomercato add that ‘with such a treasure’ on offer from the Premier League club it ‘would be difficult’ for Lille to ‘say no’. And that is how Arsenal ‘plan to take’ Sanches away from ‘serious’ competitor, Milan.
There are other players who could be offloaded in order to help finance the deal. Arsenal could reportedly receive as much as £40million from selling Nicolas Pepe and Lucas Torreira.
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They are vulnerable to an exit either in January or next summer. Torreira has been on loan at Fiorentina, with the Serie A outfit reportedly happy to pay the £15m option-to-buy within the clause.
Pepe is also attracting attention from Italy, with the club’s record signing being tipped to make a potential £25m move to Milan.
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