Unai Emery pushing Arsenal chiefs to purse deal for £35m Man Utd target

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, more on the chase to sign Moussa Dembele….

Unai Emery is pushing Arsenal bosses to purse a deal for Moussa Dembele after identifying the Man Utd target as a potential replacement for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, according to reports via the Daily Star.

Dembele enjoyed a fine debut campaign in France after scoring 23 goals in 52 appearances to help Lyon finish third in the Ligue 1 table having joined the French outfit from Glasgow Celtic last summer in a £20m move.

The 22-year-old’s impressive form has attracted interest from Manchester United with the Mirror citing a report from L’Equipe last week that claimed the Red Devils were in pole position ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool to land Dembele amid reports they’d tabled a £35m bid.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is expected to be extremely active this summer as he looks to overhaul his squad and the Norwegian coach has already got a deal in place to sign Swansea City winger Daniel James.

But Man Utd could also be in the market for another striker as Romelu Lukaku is being strongly linked with a move to Italy this summer and it seems Solskjaer has identified Dembele as a potential replacement.

However, United could face stiff competition from Arsenal as the Daily Star are citing The Sunday Times journalist Duncan Castles as claiming that it’s Emery who is driving their interest in the French hitman.

Castles says Emery views Dembele as a potential replacement for Aubameyang amid speculation the Gabon international is being offered a lucrative move to the Chinese Super League this summer.

Castles told The Transfer Window podcast:

“Arsenal’s interest is intriguing, as I’m told it’s driven by Unai Emery rather than the club,”

“Emery sees Dembele as an option should one of their lead strikers be sold this summer. And we’ve seen some talk that China has an interest in Aubameyang again, as they have done in the past.

“That could be a lucrative deal for Aubameyang, a lucrative deal for Arsenal, in which case they could reinvest some of the money in Dembele and put some of Aubameyang’s very high wages elsewhere in the team.”

No doubt Arsenal fans would be disappointed to see Aubameyang go if he was to head to China as he scored 31 goals last season but Emery is working on a tight budget this summer so he may be tempted to cash-in on the striker – who turns 30 soon – and use the money to strengthen the rest of his squad.

READ –> Arsenal transfer news | Man Utd transfer news

Dembele would be a solid replacement for Aubameyang if Arsenal were to win the race for his signature but it seems Man Utd and possibly Liverpool are also in the race so it will be interesting to see where he goes if he ends up coming to England.