Arsenal transfer talks were reportedly ongoing yesterday as the Gunners attempted to get Atletico Madrid to lower their demands for the sale of 21-year-old Uruguay centre-back Jose Gimenez.
This was a claim made by the Daily Mail, who stated that Atletico want £40m for the player – £16m less than the value of his release clause.
It should come as no surprise that Arsenal are reluctant to pay said asking price. The Gunners are notoriously cagey in the transfer market, while £40m is just £2.4m shy of what their paid for their current record signing, Mesut Ozil, according to BBC Sport.
Sure, Arsenal need a new centre-back, but Arsene Wenger said he wanted “experience” when discussing the matter with Sky Sports last month.
Young Gimenez, despite having 28 senior international caps to his name, is far from the finished article.
The 6′ 1″ defender has only played 48 times in La Liga, which is not at all bad for a player of his age, but Wenger needs a defender who knows the Premier League and is ready to instantly stabilise a backline that conceded four at home to Liverpool last weekend.
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