Arsenal eye swoop for 23-year-old Spaniard who has £35m release clause

Managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads during the summer transfer window so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the globe. Today, Arsenal are linked with Mario Hermoso…

Arsenal are eyeing a move to sign Mario Hermoso after Unai Emery identified the Espanyol centre-back as a potential summer target, according to reports in Spain via The Sun.

Emery is gearing-up for a busy few months in the transfer market as he looks to build a squad capable of challenging for the title and a new centre-back is desperately needed as we’ve once again struggled defensively this season after conceding a whopping 51 goals in the Premier League – which was significantly worse than any of the clubs that finished in the top four.

Shkodran Mustafi is being tipped to leave the Emirates after a disappointing spell while Laurent Koscielny – who turns 34 in September – is coming towards the end of his career so a new centre-back is on the agenda.

Arsenal have been linked with a whole host of names recently and the latest to add to the list if Mario Hermoso with The Sun citing a report from Spanish publication Sport that claims we have identified the Espanyol defender as a possible target this summer.

Hermoso has been a key player for the La Liga outfit since moving to the club from Real Madrid in 2017 and he helped them secure a seventh-placed finish in the league this season while he has 2 caps for the Spanish national team to his name.

The report says the 23-year-old has a release clause worth £35m written into his current contract but Espanyol are prepared to do business at around £18m – which would represent a decent deal in today’s climate.

However, Sport claims that Arsenal will have to battle-it-out with Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich if we want to land Hermoso while Madrid also have a buy-back clause allowing them to re-sign the defender for just £6m.

There is no indication that Zinedine Zidane wants the Spanish international but there is nothing stopping Madrid activating their buy-back option and immediately selling Hermoso on at a big profit, which would price Arsenal out of any deal.

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So it’s going to be very difficult to win the race for his signature but Hermoso would be an excellent addition to the squad if Arsenal could somehow beat the likes of PSG and Bayern to land the centre-back this summer.