Arsenal Steal March On Chelsea With Formal £7m Defender Bid

With the summer transfer window finally open for business, managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads ahead of next season so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip. Today, Arsenal make their move for Faouzi Ghoulam….

Arsenal have stolen a march on Chelsea after tabling a formal £7m offer for Napoli left-back Faouzi Ghoulam as Arsene Wenger closes in on his second summer signing, according to the Daily Star.

Ghoulam enjoyed an excellent season in Serie A last year with the defender making 39 appearances in all competitions during his first full season at the club having made the move from St Etienne in January 2014.

His impressive form has led to interest from the Premier League with the Daily Star claiming that Arsenal and Chelsea are both showing a keen interest in luring the Algerian international to England this summer.

Jose Mourinho is seemingly on the look-out for another left-back with Filipe Luis tipped to head back to Spain after a disappointing debut campaign at Stamford Bridge and it appears Ghoulam is on his radar.

However, it looks like Arsenal have stolen a march on their London rivals as the Daily Star are citing reports coming from Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport that claim Arsene Wenger has now tabled a formal £7m offer for the 24-year-old’s services.

It’s not made clear in the report whether the bid will be accepted by Napoli but it appears Wenger is now pushing hard to secure his second major signing of the summer transfer window.

If the Gunners can secure a deal for Ghoulam over the coming weeks then it will cast further doubt over the future of Nacho Monreal. The 29-year-old established himself as Arsenal’s first choice left-back during the second half of last season but with just one year remaining on his contract, he’s been tipped to head back to Spain with Athletic Bilbao reportedly keen [via the Metro].

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news | Chelsea transfer news

I’d personally be surprised if Monreal was allowed to leave as he was excellent during the closing stages of last season but if Wenger is looking to sign Ghoulam you’d expect someone would have to depart in order to make room and the Spaniard is more likely to go than Kieran Gibbs.

We’ll have to see how Chelsea respond to the news that Arsenal have supposedly made a formal bid and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blues stepped-up their interest to make a counter-offer, but as it stands the North Londoners are in pole position to sign Ghoulam this summer.