Arsenal prepare £39m bid for La Liga star with Arteta ‘confident’ of striking £13m-a-year deal

Arsenal are preparing an offer for Real Madrid defender David Alaba, according to reports in Spain, with the Gunners ‘not satisfied’ just yet.

Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu have already brought in three players so far this summer with Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice all arriving this summer in deals totalling £208m.

Reports before the start of the transfer window claimed that Arsenal would look to sign five players this summer with two midfielders, a forward, a centre-back and a right-back their priorities.

That suggests there is space for a couple more signings before the end of the transfer window with Spanish newspaper Nacional insisting the Gunners ‘still have a lot to say in the transfer market’.

It is understood that Arteta and Edu ‘are not satisfied with the additions they have already made’ and are looking to continue adding to their squad after qualifying for the Champions League last term.

Arsenal are now ready to ‘present a formal proposal’ to Real Madrid for Alaba as they ‘try to convince Florentino Perez to open the doors’ to the versatile defender.

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The Gunners will still ‘have to seduce’ the Austria international as he has always been ‘very happy’ with his decision to swap Bayern Munich for Real Madrid.

It is claimed that Arteta is ‘confident that he can reach an agreement’ with Alaba as the Premier League remains ‘particularly attractive’ to the 31-year-old.

Arteta will ‘promise’ that Alaba will become an ‘indispensable piece’ of his Arsenal side and will offer him ‘a very interesting contract’ that will guarantee him ‘€15m (£13m) net a year’ which is €3m more than he currently receives at Real Madrid.

Los Blancos president Perez ‘has doubts about whether it is worth accepting Arsenal’s proposal’ but Alaba’s age, past injuries and irregular form last season could persuade him to part ways.

There could be some potential outgoings over the next few weeks at Arsenal too with former CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs bringing the latest on the futures of Thomas Partey and Folarin Balogun.

Jacobs wrote in his Caught Offside column: “There is still a chance Thomas Partey leaves Arsenal. He is a Saudi target, although he had originally told Al-Ahli he wasn’t interested. There is no indication yet if he will change his mind. But what I would say is some players who dismissed the project could have second thoughts as they see others join.

“If Partey leaves then Arsenal could yet move for Romeo Lavia. Southampton want £50m. Liverpool and Chelsea are well across Lavia’s situation, too.

“Liverpool want a midfield destroyer, but they won’t enter the race for Moises Caicedo, as previously revealed, and there is a feeling Chelsea will eventually get that deal over the line and for less than £100m.

“All three clubs value Lavia at much less than £50m. Manchester City’s 2024 buyback clause of £40m is very much the top-end valuation in how clubs are thinking. I think we will see a bid for Lavia sooner rather than later but it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s in the mid-30-millions.

“The other Arsenal player to keep an eye on is Folarin Balogun, who has made it clear to Arsenal he doesn’t want another loan. Balogun had an incredible season with Ligue 1 side Reims last campaign, scoring 22 goals in 39 games in all competitions. Arsenal would love to keep him but it’s hard to see him getting enough minutes next season to be satisfied. That’s why a sale is possible.

“Inter are weighing up a £35m (€40m) bid having turned their attention to Balogun after (at least for now) pulling out of signing Romelu Lukaku, seemingly furious at the Belgian striker for engaging with Juventus.

“In January Arsenal would have valued Balogun at £35m, but now they want at least £45m. Inter may have a bit more wiggle room after selling goalkeeper Andre Onana to Manchester United. Crystal Palace and West Ham are two of several other clubs who have Balogun on their radar.”

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