The summer silly season is in full swing but we’re still waiting for Arsenal to make their first big splash signing this summer. Who will it be? Perhaps it’s Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar, an elite playmaker that the north London club has been keen on for a very long time.
He’s also supposedly been on the radar of several other big clubs too, including Juventus, Barcelona, Liverpool and both Manchester clubs. Right now it seems that Arsenal’s main competition for the 23-year-old is coming from Paris Saint-Germain, but Atletico Madrid are said to be keen on as well.
According to reports in French outlet Le 10 Sport, it is Arsenal who are taking the initiative right now as they are close to matching Lyon’s asking price of between €20-€25 million. It is strongly suggested that Arsenal leading the derby/at the front of the que right now.
Elsewhere, Anderlecht midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga has been strongly linked with the Emirates this summer, and now an agreement in principle seems to have been reached, reports transfer guru and journalist Fabrizio Romano.
It is suggested that this second bid did the trick, as personal terms have been agreed and the negotiations are now in their final stages, with a fee set to be €17.5m (£15m) for the 21-year-old.
With add-ons potentially bringing the grand total to €22m (£18.9m). Watch this space, as the situation could escalate quickly.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.