Arsenal & Chelsea To Hold Talks With Agent Of £25m Liverpool Target This Week

The opening of the summer transfer window is almost upon us so we’ll bring you all the latest transfer rumours and gossip from around the globe. Today, Arsenal and Chelsea are set to hold talks with the agent of Sofiane Boufal…

Liverpool have fallen behind in the race for Sofiane Boufal with Arsenal and Chelsea set to hold talks with the Lille attackers agent this week, according to a report in the Express.

Boufal only joined Lille in January 2015 after making a £3m move from Angers and has just come off the back of the best season of his career having scored 11 goals in 29 games to help his new club to a fifth-placed finish in Ligue 1.

That sort of form has seen the 22-year-old attract plenty of interest from the Premier League with the Express claiming that Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea have all been tracking the Moroccan international in recent months.

However, it looks as though Liverpool have fallen behind in the race for his signature as Guardian journalist Ed Aarons claimed on Twitter that Arsenal and Chelsea are among the clubs who are set to hold talks with Boufal’s agent this week to discuss a potential move.

Aarons tweeted:

Arsenal, Chelsea and Southampton will hold talks with Sofiane Boufal's agent this week over potential transfer from Lille #afc #cfc

— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) June 28, 2016

The news will come as a blow to Reds boss Jurgen Klopp as the Express claim he had identified Boufal as a potential new recruit after missing out on Mario Gotze as he looks to further strengthen his attacking options following the signing of Sadio Mane from Southampton.

But it looks like Arsenal and Chelsea are well in the running to sign the Moroccan star, who’s predominantly played as an attacking midfielder but is also capable of playing out on the wings, so his versatility is sure to appeal.

Arsene Wenger is gearing up for a busy summer after missing out on the title last season and a new attacker looks to be on the agenda as Theo Walcott is being tipped to leave the Emirates after losing his first team place and Boufal could be the ideal replacement.

However, incoming Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is also expected to be extremely active in the transfer market as he looks to put his own stamp on the squad and Boufal would certainly bring a new creative edge to the Stamford Bridge outfit.

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It’s going to be interesting to see how things progress over the coming days and there is still time for Liverpool to step-up their interest but any of the English clubs better be prepared to dig deep if they want to sign the young attacker as the Express suggest that Lille will demand £25m to cash-in this summer.