According to reports, Mikel Arteta has told Real Madrid the fee Arsenal are willing to pay to sign Rodrygo this summer.
The Gunners were dealt a blow last week when it was revealed that Barcelona were closing in on a deal for Nico Williams, but were then handed a huge boost on Wednesday as a report in Spain claimed ‘dream’ left wing target Rodrygo has ‘asked to leave’ Real Madrid.
The bombshell report came on the back of transfer expert Fabrizio Romano revealing that Rodrygo telling Madrid and new manager Xabi Alonso that he wants to leave was the “only way” Arsenal would get the deal done.
“The only way is if Rodrygo goes to Xabi Alonso and tells him at some point now – in one week, in two weeks – ‘I want to leave the club’.
“So is Rodrygo deciding? If he decides to go to Arsenal, the doors of this deal to negotiate could be open, but in this moment, Rodrygo still didn’t tell anything to Xabi Alonso.”
The report claimed Rodrygo has ‘formally requested his departure in this summer market due to the imminent loss of prominence in the new tactical structure of the Basque coach’.
The arrival of Franco Mastantuono, combined with him being dropped to the bench for the Club World Cup wins over Pachuca and RB Salzburg, has pushed Rodrygo to the exit.
A report from Fichajes on Friday claimed that Rodrygo ‘on the exit ramp’ and that Real Madrid are prepared to ‘lower their starting price’ for his transfer to force his exit.
They will have to lower it significantly for Arsenal to be his landing spot though according to Nacional, who claim the Arteta isn’t willing to go above €60m [£51] for the forward, who was valued by Madrid president Florentino Perez at €90m [£77m] before the possibility of his transfer this summer arose.
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‘The situation opens a new chapter in the summer market’, the report explains, ‘where the sporting urgencies of the Gunners could collide with the economic policy of Real Madrid’.
The report adds:
‘For Arteta, his profile would be ideal: mobility, capacity for association and goal. But the position of the London club is firm: they will not exceed 60 million, aware that the Brazilian is no longer untouchable in the new white project led by Xabi Alonso.
‘At the Santiago Bernabéu, Rodrygo’s situation has also changed. Although he is still a player appreciated by the fans and by the locker room, his role has been reduced after the arrival of Kylian Mbappé and the irruption of young people such as Arda Güler or the recently signed Franco Mastantuono. The club has not declared it transferable, but it does not rule out a sale if the offer approaches its requirements.’
A report earlier on Sunday claimed Arsenal have ‘restarted negotiations’ with Ademola Lookman as an alternative, while it’s also been claimed Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi is ‘the chosen one’ this summer.