Arsenal To Offer £29m + Player In Exchange For South American Hitman

The summer transfer window is in full swing so we’ll bring you all the latest transfer rumours and gossip from around the globe. Today, Arsenal step-up their interest in Mauro Icardi…

Arsenal are ready to offer Inter Milan £29m plus Olivier Giroud in exchange for the signing of Argentinean striker Mauro Icardi this summer, according to reports in Italy via the Daily Star.

Arsene Wenger is desperately trying to sign a new centre-back after losing both Per Mertesacker and Gabriel to injury in recent weeks but a new striker is also a priority for the boss during the closing weeks of the summer window.

While Alexandre Lacazette has been widely linked with a move to the Emirates, Icardi has also emerged as a potential target with Calciomercato reporting last week that his agent had flow oven to London to hold talks with Arsenal chiefs about a potential deal.

It looks like we’re now ready to formalise our interest as the Daily Star are citing reports coming out of Italy that claim Wenger is prepared to test Inter’s resolve with an offer of £29m in cash plus Olivier Giroud in exchange for Icardi’s signature.

We aren’t the only club in the running as the newspaper says that Napoli are willing to pay £50m for the 23-year-old but we hope that offering Giroud as a direct replacement may swing any potential deal in our favour.

Our chances of landing Icardi could have been boosted following the dismissal of Roberto Mancini as boss at the San Siro but we’ll have to wait and see whether the South American features in new manager Frank de Boer’s plans.

Icardi is a top talent and has scored 52 goals in his 102 appearances for Inter since joining the club from Sampdoria so I’d certainly like to see him come to Arsenal before the window closes.

However, I’m not in favour of using Giroud as bait to land him, or any other striker for that matter. We need to add a striker to our ranks so we have enough depth to cope with the number of games we’re going to play throughout the season, not just replace Giroud.

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If we swap the Frenchman for Icardi we’ll still be left with limited options up front, so I’d much prefer any deal to sign Icardi, Lacazette, or any other striker is a straight cash deal and doesn’t involve Giroud going in the opposite direction.