Madrid Talks Likely To See Arsenal Miss Out On £25m-Rated Ace

With the summer transfer window now open, there is plenty of gossip doing the rounds in the newspapers so we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest transfer rumours. Today, Arsenal have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Asier Illarramendi.

Arsenal have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Asier Illarramendi with Real Madrid set to hold talks with Real Socieded this week to sign the £25m-rated midfielder, according to talkSPORT.

We were tipped to make a move for the highly-rated midfielder last month when he starred in Spain’s European Under-21 Championship winning team, with the Daily Mail claiming at the time that boss Arsene Wenger wanted him to be a long-term replacement for Mikel Arteta at the heart of our midfield.

However, it seems the 23-year-old’s impressive display’s at this summer’s Euro’s have also alerted Real Madrid with talkSPORT suggesting Illarramendi is now a ‘top priority’ for the La Liga giants as they look to bring in a long-term successor for Xabi Alonso – who only has one year remaining on his current deal at the Bernabeu.

The report claims Madrid president Florentino Perez will hold formal talks with counterpart Jokin Aperribay this week to try and thrash out a deal, although Sociedad are expected to demand a fee in the region of £25m for their star man.

Illarramendi played a key role in helping Sociedad secure a top-four finish last season and it’s believed he will take some persuading to leave his boyhood club, particularly now they’ve got a possible Champions League campaign to look forward to. But the lure of Real Madrid is likely to prove too strong, if the two clubs can agree a fee following this weeks negotiations.

While Illarramendi is a fine talent and I’d have welcomed him at the Emirates, he is likely to be just one of several targets Arsene Wenger is considering this summer and I couldn’t see the boss paying £25m for him anyway. If Madrid are prepared to pay that kind of fee then we were never realistically going to sign him. How about Marouane Fellaini, Arsene?!

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Will Arsenal fans be disappointed to miss out on Illarramendi? Get involved in the comments section below.