Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has reportedly been advised to offer Arsenal the chance to sign Mariano Diaz in a swap deal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
This is on the request of Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, who wants to bring Aubameyang to the Bernabeu this summer and who is willing to part with Mariano to get the deal through, according to Don Balon.
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Aubameyang has been a star performer for Arsenal in recent times and his departure would be a huge blow, though it also won’t come as much surprise at this point.
The Gabon international is clearly good enough to play for most top clubs around Europe, and will surely feel he has the chance to win major trophies with a move away from this struggling Gunners side.
As things stand, Arsenal may not even make it into the Europa League next season, let alone the Champions League, whereas Real are often among the favourites to win the European Cup.
Don Balon suggest Mariano could be open to a move to north London in what would likely be a €20million-plus-player deal, and that could be good news for Arsenal as he’s shown himself to be a fine player, even if he’s not quite Real Madrid standard.
The 26-year-old hasn’t had many chances in Zidane’s side, but notably scored 21 goals in 45 games for Lyon during the 2017/18 season.
If Mikel Arteta can work his magic with the Dominican Republic international, he could end up being a decent replacement for Aubameyang.