Arsenal transfer news: Nicolas Pepe latest as Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny near exit door
The latest Arsenal transfer news, rumours and done deals on Tuesday lunchtime
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal’s defensive overhaul is finally set to begin with the club in talks with two Ligue 1 sides.
New technical director Edu reportedly sat down with Rennes president Olivier Letang this week to discuss the potential departure of club captain Laurent Koscielny.
Earlier this summer, Koscielny refused to travel on the club’s pre-season tour of America in an attempt to push through a cut-price return to his native France.
A host of Ligue 1 sides are battling it out to sign the veteran defender and the BBC have reported that Edu had met with Rennes to ask for £9m for the 33-year-old, who is under contract until 2020.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are in talks with numerous clubs over the exit of Shkodran Mustafi, although French side Monaco are at the front of the queue.
The World Cup winner had a desperately poor season under Unai Emery and has been made available by the club.
He would be available for significantly less than the £35m Arsenal signed him for, with the money made by his departure likely to be immediately reinvested in the squad.
Arsenal are confident, meanwhile, that they will be able to agree a deal with Celtic for full back Kieran Tierney.
The Gunners have seen two bids rejected by the Scottish champions, who reportedly value the 22-year-old at £25m.
But according to Sky Sports, Arsenal are “increasingly confident that a deal with Celtic for Tierney is edging closer”.
Arsenal are also set to complete the £72m of Nicolas Pepe in the next few days, and it is understood that the more favourable structure of the deal saw them turn to the Lille winger over Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha.
Zaha had been intent on the switch, and is now left anxious about his future and hoping for a transfer to Everton, after the demands of both Palace and the player’s representative ultimately put Arsenal off.
Although Pepe and Zaha would have been roughly the same fee – at a total of around £70m – the Selhurst Park hierarchy wanted at least £55m up front.
Lille have instead agreed a deal whereby the payment is spread over a number of years, allowing Arsenal to secure such a signing while also sticking to a more limited transfer budget this summer.
It is similarly understood that Pepe’s wage demands are far lower, which was another issue causing Arsenal to stall on the Zaha deal.
Elsewhere, highly rated youngster Xavier Amaechi has left the club, joining German second division side Hamburg for an initial fee of €2.5m.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments