Arsenal will not be able to sign Real Madrid winger Rodrygo for €70m this summer as Florentino Perez wants more money, according to reports.
The Gunners failed once again to win a trophy this season as Mikel Arteta’s side came runners-up in the Premier League for a third campaign in a row.
Arsenal did have a good run in the Champions League with the Gunners knocking out Real Madrid before eventually losing out to Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals.
The Arsenal hierarchy have been told by supporters and former players to sign a new top-class centre-forward over the last couple of years but the Gunners didn’t oblige.
And injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz at the beginning of this year really highlighted their need for a striker who can decide tight matches after Mikel Merino filled in as a makeshift forward in the final few months of the season.
Arsenal now look like they are closing in on solving that issue with Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg insisting that the Gunners are making progress on a deal for RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko.
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Plettenberg wrote on X: ‘The feeling around a possible deal between Benjamin #Sesko and Arsenal remains very positive. There’s no full agreement yet, but the next round of talks is already scheduled. Mikel Arteta is keen on the 22 y/o top striker. Leipzig are waiting for an official offer. Price tag: €80–100m.’
That isn’t the only part of their forward line they are looking to improve this summer with Arsenal hoping to bring in a new winger.
There were numerous reports linking them with Nico Williams earlier in the summer but the latest claims have linked them with a move for Real Madrid winger Rodrygo.
The Brazilian is being forced down the pecking order at Real Madrid and there have been claims that he could consider a move if Los Blancos let him go.
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A report earlier this week claimed that Arsenal recently made the ‘decision’ to go ‘all out’ with a ‘new offer’ with the Brazilian international now wanting to ‘leave’ Real Madrid.
The report in Spain claimed that the Gunners are ‘willing to submit a 70 million euro [£59m] offer to try and get him away’ from the Bernabeu.
But now a fresh story on Spanish website Defensa Central insists that Rodrygo ‘won’t be sold for 70 million’ responding to claims that Arsenal are set to launch an offer.’
The La Liga side’s president, Florentino Perez, is ‘clear’ to Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and any other club interested in signing the Brazil international, ‘that he will not leave the club this summer’.
And now ‘everything points to a Rodrygo soap opera this summer’ with the Brazil international currently on board with staying at Real Madrid – but ‘pressure from his inner circle could influence and be decisive in a change of heart’.
Exits are something Real Madrid ‘will have to consider’ this summer but it’s likely to be something that occurs later in the summer when they have finalised their own transfers.’