Arsenal have held discussions with SC Freiburg about signing centre-back Caglar Soyuncu in the summer, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claim that the Gunners’ head of recruitment Sven Mislintat is well aware of the 21-year-old’s continued improvement and is currently deciding whether to make a bid for him in the summer.
The Daily Mail report that the Bundesliga club are reluctant to sell the defender and that could see him cost Arsene Wenger’s side in the region of £30million.
It is believed that the 6ft 2in Soyuncu has attracted attention from both Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea and AS Roma in the past year.
Good move for Arsenal?
Yes, the Gunners need to sign a new centre-back in the summer in order to replace Per Mertesacker.
Mertesacker is due to retire at the end of the season, as reported by the BBC, and signing a young defender to replace him, is a genius move.
Soyuncu has impressed in the 25 appearances he has made this season, and there’s no reason to suggest he won’t be a positive addition to Wenger’s squad.
The centre-back is pacey, strong in the air and reads the game very well.
This is Futbol rating: 8/10
Likely to happen?
If the Daily Mail’s report is to be trusted, then this deal is definitely on the cards as the Gunners have already held talks with Freiburg.
However with the Bundesliga club being reluctant to sell, it could easily stop a deal from happening.
The centre-back is contracted to Freiburg until 2021 and the club will not be forced to sell, unless the Gunners stump up at least £30million.
This price tag is a bit steep for a 21-year-old defender, when you consider that he only has 45 Bundesliga appearances to his name.
This is Futbol rating: 5/10