Arsenal possibilities before end of transfer window
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According to Sportialia, Unai Emery appears to have finally got the centre-back he has been wanting all summer after Arsenal reportedly agreed personal terms with Juventus’s’ Daniele Rugani. The Gunners have been desperately chasing a new defender throughout the summer window and the need for reinforcements was exacerbated by the departure of Laurent Koscielny.
It seems Emery has finally settled on Rugani though, who looks set to leave Turin after the arrival of Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax. The Gunners, according to the publication have now struck a deal with the 25-year-old Italian. It is believed they have offered him a base salary worth £3.6million (€4m) per year plus additional bonuses based on his performances. That just leaves Arsenal to strike a deal with Juventus with reports suggesting it could be a two-year loan initially with the eventual cost reaching £36m (€40m).
Arsenal hope to secure a new centre-back before Thursday’s 5pm deadline and have held also held talks with Red Bull Leipzig for Dayot Upamecano. It comes after Koscielny got his wish of a return to France when Arsenal secured the fee they were demanding after Bordeaux stumped up £4.6m to sign the defender. Koscielny’s move to Bordeaux was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon following a bitter end to his Arsenal career. Bordeaux announced Koscielny’s arrival on Tuesday via a Twitter video which also included the launch of their new home shirt. However, the seven-second clip has irked Arsenal fans massively as he is seen taking off their strip to show the kit of his new club.
‘New player, new jersey, find it now here,’ Bordeaux captioned the video as. Gary Lineker quote-tweeted it with ‘Blimey’ – which alerted it to the attention of the Gunners fanbase.
Former striker Ian Wright was not happy, writing on Twitter: ‘This hurts. The level of disrespect… You should be ashamed for the way you’ve left the club after 9 years! Got what you wanted and still trying to have a dig… Hope it’s worth it in the long run.’