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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

Tuesday 30 July 2019 14:01 BST

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Transfer deadline day summer 2019: The deals done so far

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.

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Show all 12

1/12Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Stay or go? Transfer verdict 2019

Jack Pitt-Brook runs down the biggest transfer sagas awaiting us this summer and whether they will actually happen or not

AFP/Getty

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

David De Gea

This has been the worst season in years for the best goalkeeper in the world. He struggled at the World Cup then his form declined over the end of a difficult season. Now he wants a pay-rise to get parity with Alexis Sanchez. United have not offered him that, but De Gea knows that PSG would give him the money that he wants. Juventus are interested too. He has one year left and so if United cannot make him an acceptable offer then his long association with the club could be about to end. Verdict: 50/50

REUTERS

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Wilfried Zaha

Always linked with a move to a top club, and this summer Zaha is keen to make that big step again. But having been rewarded with new long-term contracts from Crystal Palace in the past to ward off interest, his club have the upper hand over his future. So while there are plenty of clubs - like Arsenal - who might like Zaha if he was available for £40m, there is less appetite to pay the £80m it would cost to get him out of Selhurst Park. And with four years left on his deal there, Zaha is unlikely to get the move that he wants. Verdict: stay

Action Images via Reuters

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Mesut Ozil

One of the great unanswered questions of the Unai Emery era has been the role of Mesut Ozil. Arsenal’s best paid and most famous player has been pushed out to the fringes this season, with Emery only appreciating in games where he will not have to do too much physical work. Over the season he started just 20 of Arsenal’s 38 league games. The problem is the ludicrous contract he was given in January 2018, a decision that Arsene Wenger soon came to regret and that has hamstrung Emery too. It means there are no takers for him, and he has no interest to leave. Verdict: stay

Reuters

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Ilkay Gundogan

Pep Guardiola’s first signing at Manchester City finished the season in the best form of his time at the club, instrumental in City’s 14-game winning streak that secured them the title. But his future is not clear. He only has one year left on his contract and has dragged his heels on signing a new one, knowing that at 28 years old this could be the last big contract of his career. Guardiola said at Wembley on Saturday night that if he does not sign then he will be sold, with Barcelona interested in signing him. There will need to be a breakthrough in negotiations to keep him at the club. Verdict: 50/50

Getty Images

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Alexis Sanchez

Like Pogba, a man United were delighted to sign but who has not quite delivered on that promise during his time at Old Trafford. Like Ozil, a player who has proven difficult to move because of the contract he negotiated 18 months ago. Sanchez earns more than £500,000 per week and not many other clubs want to pay that. Only now from Inter Milan is there serious interest, with talks now open on a move, with Untied keen to write off a badly-judged investment. Verdict: go

Getty

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

James Maddison

It was only Maddison’s first season in the Premier League but he created more chances than anyone, finishing up with over 100, split evenly between set pieces and open play. He has played with the same confidence and ability he showed all the way through his young career so far, at Coventry City, Aberdeen and Norwich City. The only question is what next. Manchester City, Liverpool and Spurs have been following Maddison his whole career but he has always put football first. And while that interest is still there, he is not expected to leave Leicester yet. Especially given the recent arrival of Brendan Rodgers. Verdict: stay

Getty

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Christian Eriksen

For most of this year the presumption at Spurs was that this would be Christian Eriksen’s last season. Because he had one year left on his deal and was not signing a new one. Real Madrid would be his destination and Spurs were already lining up replacements. But there have been plenty of changes at Madrid recently, with Zinedine Zidane coming in and changing their transfer plans. Now the transfer is less certain and there are is even talk of fresh transfer negotiations. His departure is not inevitable yet. Verdict: 50/50

REUTERS

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Harry Maguire

With Vincent Kompany off to Anderlecht, and Nicolas Otamendi likely to leave too, Manchester City want a new centre-back. According to the Mail, they have identified Leicester’s Harry Maguire. He knows the league and would also help them with their home-grown quota for their Champions League squad. But as a 26-year-old England international at an established Premier League side, he is not going to be cheap. Verdict: go

Reuters

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Jadon Sancho

Manchester United made Sancho their top transfer target for this summer and were willing to pay £100million to get the teenager out of Borussia Dortmund. But that move will now not be happening, Sancho and his advisers having decided that Old Trafford would not be the right environment for his development. While a move is still theoretically possible - if PSG or Real Madrid pay the asking price - it is far more likely that the 19-year-old Sancho will stay at Dortmund for another season of development now. Verdict: stay

AP

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Toby Alderweireld

It speaks volumes to Mauricio Pochettino’s motivational powers that he has got such a good season out of Alderweireld when it looked last summer as if player and club were set to part ways. Alderweireld wanted a move to Manchester United last summer but there was never an agreement on price so he had to stay. Spurs have taken the option in his contract, which means he will be available this summer to any team who pays £25million for him. This will surely be the point when his four-year spell at the club ends, with one of the richer teams likely to see him as a perfect short-term defensive solution. Verdict: go

Getty Images

Transfer verdict 2019: Stay or go?

Paul Pogba

When Zinedine Zidane return to the Real Madrid’s manager’s job he made Paul Pogba a priority and now it depends on how much Madrid want to back him. Pogba himself is interested in a move to Madrid, and has been for years. And while Pogba’s form did improve after Jose Mourinho’s departure at Christmas, there is also a view at Old Trafford that they would be better off without a player who is so inconsistent, and who some view as a negative dressing room influence. United would still need to recoup most of the £89m fee for him to sell, however. Verdict: 50/50

AFP/Getty Images

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.

Pepe is poised to sign (AFP/Getty)

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.

Zaha is set to stay put (The Independent)

Elsewhere, highly rated youngster Xavier Amaechi has left the club, joining German second division side Hamburg for an initial fee of €2.5m.

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