North London Duo Join Liverpool In Race For Ghanaian Midfielder

The January transfer window may have slammed shut but clubs will still be working hard behind the scenes at identifying targets for the summer, so we’ll bring you all the latest news, gossip and rumours. Today, interest mounts in Udinese midfielder.

Arsenal and Tottenham have joined Liverpool in the race for highly-rated Udinese midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang Badu, according to talkSPORT.

The Ghanaian international has been with Udinese since 2010 and after a difficult start to life in Serie A, he’s now established himself as a first team regular following some impressive displays at the heart of midfield.

Liverpool have been strongly linked with Badu in recent weeks with reports suggesting that Brendan Rodgers could tempt Udinese with a £7million offer at the end of the season.

However, it seems the 23-year-old’s no-nonsense approach has also caught the eye of Arsenal and Tottenham with talkSPORT claiming the duo have now joined the Merseysiders in showing an interest in bringing the combative midfielder to the Premier League this summer.

Badu shot to fame in 2009 after scoring the sudden death penalty that beat Brazil in the final and won Ghana Under-20’s the World Cup in Egypt. He’s since gone on to be capped 41 times by the senior national side so would bring plenty of experience with him if any of the English trio were successful in signing him.

The players contract still has over two years left to run so Udinese are under no immediate pressure to sell and it’s likely they will demand more than the £7m Liverpool are said to be ready to offer.

The Anfield club could be on the look-out for another defensive midfielder due to the injury problems suffered by Lucas Leiva over the past 18 months, and although Steven Gerrard has excelled in his deeper role in recent weeks, the Reds legend isn’t getting any younger so Rodgers is going to have to look to the future.

Arsenal are also going to have to start to think about replacing Mikel Arteta soon, as the Spaniard is approaching his 32nd birthday and some fans feel they could use more energy and athleticism in the defensive midfield area, and Badu would certainly fit the bill.

Tottenham’s interest is curious as the north Londoners appear well stocked in the defensive midfield department, with youngster Nabil Bentaleb impressing since being promoted to the first team while Tim Sherwood also has the likes of Sandro and Etienne Capoue to call upon.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news | Liverpool transfer news | Spurs transfer news

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