Arsenal rival Real Madrid for signing of Serie A full-back with £11m bid

Posted by

Gunners in competition for defender.

SEE ALSO:
Man United transfer targets revealed: LVG eyes four new buys, including £70m La Liga duo & Bayern star
Man City have mammoth £163m spending spree in the works, with £50m Liverpool star & £35m Man Utd target
Arsenal transfer news

Arsenal are reportedly leading Real Madrid in the race to sign Napoli left-back Faouzi Ghoulam and will make a bid of around £11m for the player, according to Eurosport.

The Gunners already have Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs as options in that position, but are seemingly keen to strengthen further with this buy from the struggling Serie A side, who may lose some big names after failing to qualify for the Champions League next season.

The Guardian also mentions Arsenal as potential suitors for Ghoulam’s team-mate Gonzalo Higuain, though it may be that the Naples club’s £67m valuation of the Argentine striker will put the Premier League giants off pursuing him for the time being.

Ghoulam is a talented Algerian international who played 33 times for Napoli last season, showing some potential as an attack-minded player with four assists from the back, showing that he could perfectly suit Arsenal’s style of play, which relies a lot upon the full-backs getting forward to provide width and aid the attacking players.

Still, the 24-year-old’s former manager Rafael Benitez is supposedly keen on taking him with him to new club Real Madrid this summer, according to the Daily Express, so his future remains somewhat up in the air at this stage.

With a left-back surely not a big priority for Arsenal due to their options in that position already, it may be that Real would end up beating the north Londoners to this particular signing, though they also have Marcelo and Fabio Coentrao to choose from in that position.

More Stories Faouzi Ghoulam