Pio Esposito is linked with Arsenal and Manchester United.
Pio Esposito is linked with Arsenal and Manchester United
Arsenal reportedly ‘lead’ Manchester United in the race to sign £73m-rated Pio Esposito from Inter Milan and could hijack an ‘agreed’ deal.
The Gunners are on the brink of making Newcastle United standout Bruno Guimaraes their fourth summer signing after finalising a deal with their Premier League rivals.
Guimaraes will join Piero Hincapie, Illan Meslier and Christos Tzolis in joining Arsenal this summer, but they have faced difficulties in pursuit of attacking reinforcements.
Earlier this summer, Arsenal were outbid by Chelsea in the race to sign Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers, and they have now missed out on Vinicius Junior.
Arsenal made a serious attempt to lure Vinicius Junior from Real Madrid and we understand they are disappointed to miss out after the world-class winger decided to pen a new deal with the Spanish giants beyond next summer.
So the Gunners are now back to the drawing board, and a report on Friday claimed they have picked out Julian Alvarez, Bradley Barcola and Iliman Ndiaye as leading alternatives to Vinicius Junior.
Now, a report from The Sun claims Arsenal are eyeing Inter Milan striker Esposito and they ‘lead’ Man Utd in the race to sign him after ‘scouting’ him during pre-season.
The Gunners are said to have ‘monitored’ Esposito for some time and head coach Mikel Arteta is ‘keen’ to sign a new striker because Gabriel Jesus is ‘expected’ to leave.
And while Inter Milan are keen for him to stay, it is also noted that they have ‘privately set’ his valuation at £73m and he is ‘deeply seduced’ by the idea of moving to the Premier League.
Arsenal to miss out on Pio Esposito as ‘dream target’ named
Caught Offside, meanwhile, are reporting that Arsenal and Man Utd have made ‘late contact’ over signing Esposito, but they will have to move quickly because he already has an ‘agreement in place’ over a new contract at Inter Milan.
Therefore, it is unsurprisingly stated that he is ‘highly likely’ to remain at Inter Milan, who are set to give him a new contract until 2031.
Regardless, journalist Ben Jacobs has claimed that Alvarez remains Arsenal’s ‘dream target’.
Jacobs told talkSPORT: “Arsenal are now still going to add some form of either left-sided or versatile attacker.
“Not all the profiles are identical to Vinicius Junior, but Julian Alvarez is one possibility if Atleti decide to sell.
“We know they’d prefer to keep. Barcelona would love Julian Alvarez as well but Atleti may prefer, if they realise the player wants to leave, to sell outside of La Liga. So he’s a dream target.”
Jacobs continued: “Iliman Ndiaye has been discussed as well and there’ll be other options too. Some will say Bradley Barcola.”