Alonso asks Real Madrid to sign £16m star who's keen on joining Arsenal
da pixbet： Real Madrid are being repeatedly linked with Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso, and a report has now claimed the tactician is already making transfer demands ahead of a switch to the Bernabeu, which could end up scuppering Arsenal.
Arsenal targeting new centre-back for Mikel Arteta
da bet7： With Riccardo Calafiori preferred at left-back by Mikel Arteta, and some uncertainty surrounding the long-term future of Jakub Kiwior, Arsenal are believed to be in the market for another central defender this summer.
Related Injury to Arsenal star stops Berta from signing two players in key position
The north Londoners had a potentially ambitious plan.
Arteta will also be minus Kieran Tierney, who has agreed a pre-contract to join Celtic in July, while Oleksandr Zinchenko is widely expected to be sold by Arsenal this summer after falling down the pecking order.
Arsenal’s final Premier League games
Date
Bournemouth (home)
May 3rd
Liverpool (away)
May 11th
Newcastle United (home)
May 18th
Southampton (away)
May 25th
Myles Lewis-Skelly and Calafiori appear likely to be Arteta’s two first-choice left-backs next season, so if Kiwior does leave the Emirates, Arsenal will have a scarce lack of defensive options behind Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba.
This has prompted them to look into a summer deal for highly-rated Bournemouth starlet Dean Huijsen.
According to the reliable David Ornstein, Arsenal have held talks with Huijsen’s camp already, and are willing to pay the £50 million release clause into his contract.
“They [Arsenal] are among the clubs (with Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and Tottenham) who have met his representatives, with Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta keen to sign the Spain international,” wrote Ornstein in a Q&A recently.
“Whether or not Arsenal win the race is unclear because it’s still open and I’m not aware of a front-runner between them, Chelsea and Liverpool to date.
“Either way, Huijsen would play a lot of football at Arsenal, and they can now show him many examples of how, under Arteta, players have developed extremely well and become top-level talents. Now, this doesn’t mean he will opt for them; there are pros and cons to each of the suitors, all of whom are ready to pay the release clause.”
It has also been reported by talkSPORT that Huijsen favours a move to Arsenal after these discussions, so this could be a real one to watch, with Bournemouth standing to make a major profit off his £16 million signing last summer.
Xabi Alonso asks Real Madrid to sign Dean Huijsen
While the Gunners are clearly very keen, the same can now be said of Real Madrid’s prospective new manager.
Alonso is Real’s top priority to replace Carlo Ancelotti, according to Fabrizio Romano, and the former Liverpool midfielder is equally keen to swap Leverkusen for La Liga.
The move appears like a very real possibility, with Spanish media sources now reporting that the tactician is already making transfer demands to Real president Florentino Perez and the Whites’ board.
Indeed, it is now believed Alonso has asked Real to consider signing Huijsen, as the 43-year-old holds a real desire to reinforce the club’s central defensive options before his potential first full season in charge.
The former Juventus starlet has started every single Premier League game under Andoni Iraola since early December, becoming a reliable mainstay for the Cherries, which is made all the more impressive by his young age.