Arsenal eye surprise move for £40m star as Arteta looks to revamp attack

Arsenal are eyeing a shock move to sign Chelsea outcast Tammy Abraham but will need to offload players before moving for the £40m-rated striker, according to the Telegraph.

Abraham has been with Chelsea his entire career having come through their youth ranks and looked to have established himself in the first team after enjoying a productive 2019/20 campaign that saw him score 18 goals in all competitions.

However, the 23-year-old has fallen out-of-favour since Thomas Tuchel’s arrival and barely featured during the second half of last season having played just 17 minutes of Premier League action since mid-February.

Chelsea are looking to bring in a world class striker this summer with Erling Haaland strongly linked with a move to Stamford Bridge and reports suggest the Blues have tried to include Abraham in a player-plus-cash swap deal.

No progress has been made on a deal with Borussia Dortmund so Chelsea are actively trying to offload the striker and the Telegraph claims that Arsenal are showing an interest in taking him across London.

The newspaper says Chelsea have also offered Abraham to Inter Milan and Tottenham but the striker could be open to the idea of joining Arsenal as he’s a boyhood Gooner who grew up idolising Thierry Henry.

Mikel Arteta is desperately trying to overhaul his squad after they finished eighth last season and it appears the Arsenal boss is wanting to revamp his attacking options, and Abraham has emerged as a surprise target.

However, the Telegraph says Arteta will have to sell one of his current forwards before he can make any move for the England international as the Gunners cannot afford Chelsea’s £40m asking price.

Alexandre Lacazette is the most likely high profile striker to be sold as he has just one year left on his current contract at the Emirates Stadium and is showing no sign he’ll pen an extension any time soon.

Arsenal cannot afford to let Lacazette walk away for nothing next summer so they could cash-in now if a suitable offer arrives while Eddie Nketiah could also be sold this summer after failing to hold down a regular place.

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We’ll have to wait and see how things develop but Arsenal and Chelsea have done plenty of business recently with Petr Cech, David Luiz and Willian all moving to north London over the past six years, and Abraham could be the latest to make the switch.