Arsenal are looking to sign Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku in the summer transfer window amid interest from Liverpool, according to reports.
The Gunners have had a largely disappointing campaign that will see them end the season trophyless, Community Shield aside, for the fifth season in a row.
Arsenal failed to get near champions Liverpool in the second half of the season as Arne Slot’s side won the Premier League title by the end of April.
Arteta’s side gave it a good go in the Champions League with a brilliant 5-1 aggregate win over defending champions Real Madrid in the quarter-finals before succumbing to Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals.
And Arteta and new sporting director Andrea Berta are keen to ensure they end their silverware drought next season with plenty of new faces in the summer.
One area everyone agrees they need to improve is up front with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus – who were both ruled out for the season with injury earlier this year – not providing enough goals between them.
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Midfielder Mikel Merino has been playing as a makeshift striker in the last few months, very successfully in some games, but Arsenal are reportedly hoping to sign a new centre-forward and a winger in the summer.
And now The Sun claims that Chelsea’s ‘London rivals Arsenal are among those lining up a move for Nkunku’ who has started just nine Premier League matches under Enzo Maresca this term.
Arsenal are ‘desperate to boost their firepower’ and Gunners boss Arteta ‘sees the 27-year-old as a good option to add to his squad’ ahead of next season.
Liverpool, Man Utd, West Ham, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid are the other five teams who are monitoring developments around the Frenchman’s future.
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But it is said to be Arsenal, Liverpool, PSG and Atletico Madrid who are ‘the leading contenders’ to sign Nkunku – but Chelsea ‘would prefer to see the player move abroad’ as they ‘know selling him to a rival club could be risky’.
Nkunku is understood to ‘prefer the idea of a move to a club in the Champions League’ with that ruling out West Ham, while Man Utd will have to wait and see if they can beat Tottenham in the Europa League final on Wednesday night.
A report earlier this week claimed that Liverpool had ‘entered the race’ to sign Nkunku and that the Reds had ‘initiated discussions’ over a deal after adding the forward to a ‘shortlist drawn up’ ahead of the summer.