Arsenal submit formal bid for £92m-rated French star as Emery eyes 5th summer signing

We’re now at the business end of the summer transfer window and managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the world. Here, Arsenal are linked with Dayot Upamecano….

Arsenal have submitted a £55m [€60m] bid for Dayot Upamecano but RB Leipzig insist the centre-back is not for sale unless a club meets his £92m [€100m] release clause, according to Bild via the Metro.

Unai Emery has been busy in the market so far this summer as he’s snapped-up Gabriel Martinelli, Dani Ceballos and William Saliba while he smashed Arsenal’s transfer record to sign talented winger Nicolas Pepe last week.

The boss is now focussing his attention on strengthening Arsenal’s defence during the closing days of the window and while left-back Kieran Tierney remains a target, Emery is also reportedly in the market for an established centre-back.

It seems we’ve identified a key target as the Metro are citing a report from Bild that claims Arsenal have submitted a formal £55m [€60m] offer for highly-rated RB Leipzig defender Upamecano.

The 20-year-old Frenchman has developed into one of the best young centre-backs in German football and he would be a huge upgrade on the likes of Shkodran Mustafi and Calum Chambers if Arsenal could get a deal agreed.

However, the German publication says Leipzig have already rejected the proposal as they don’t want to lose a key player like Upamecano so Arsenal may have to meet his £92m [€100m] release clause if we want to sign the youngster.

It’s highly unlikely that Arsenal chiefs would sanction such a deal, especially after just splashing out £72m on Pepe, so we’ll have to either hope Leipzig change their stance or we’ll need to move on to other targets.

Upamecano has two years left on his deal so that could persuade Leipzig to lower their demands as the defender’s value would drop considerably if he doesn’t sign a new contract extension over the next 12 months.

However, Arsenal need a contingency plan in-place incase Leipzig stick to their guns and the Metro says we’re also ready to hold fresh talks with Juventus over a possible deal for Daniele Rugani after seeing a two-year loan offer rejected.

Read –> Arsenal transfer news

The Italian international would also be an excellent signing if Arsenal could get a deal agreed with Juve but we’ll have to wait and see whether the club can make any progress in our hunt for a centre-back ahead of Thursday’s deadline.