Arsenal chief Edu €15m short with ‘formal offer’ for Liverpool-linked centre-back
Arsenal director Edu is set to offer €15m below Eintracht Frankfurt’s asking price for Willian Pacho as Liverpool battle the Gunners for the 22-year-old.
Pacho moved to Frankfurt from Royal Antwerp for around £8m last summer and has caught the eye of some of Europe’s elite through his displays for the Bundesliga side this season.
Arsenal in battle with Liverpool for Pacho
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano revealed Liverpool’s interest earlier this week, claiming any suitor would need to stump up €50-60m to land him this summer.
“I spoke yesterday about how they have been monitoring Eintracht Frankfurt, but it’s not really about specific players. It’s normal for top clubs like this to send their scouts to monitor entire teams, but it’s too early to report on anything more than that,” Romano told Caught Offside.
“So, although there have also been stories about Liverpool enquiring about Eintracht’s talented Ecuador defender Willian Pacho, along with Arsenal, I have no concrete updates about specific clubs.
“It’s true that Pacho has a price tag of around €50-60m and it looks like an open race for his signature this summer. I’m told nothing is at concrete or advanced stages with English clubs.”
‘First formal offer’ incoming
And now DAZN (via Sport Witness) claim that Gunners chief Edu is preparing a ‘first formal offer’ for the defender of around €45m.
Pacho is under contract at Frankfurt until 2028 and the German side are under no pressure to sell, meaning they will likely hold out for a bid ‘in excess of €60m’ for the Equador international.
It’s not clear whether Edu would be prepared to increase that bid, but Frankfurt hope that interest from Liverpool and other European giants could lead to a bidding war.
Arsenal have also reportedly increased their interest in RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko ahead of the summer transfer market.
Mikel Arteta is looking to ‘add more firepower to his squad next season’ and Sesko is one of the strikers on their shortlist, according to the Evening Standard.
Arsenal ‘have scouted 6ft 4in Sesko as they consider their options’ but the Gunners ‘will face competition’ from Manchester United and Chelsea, who are also interested.
The Slovenian has a release clause in his contract of €50million (£42.7m), which will become active in the summer, and the 20-year-old could leave after scoring 12 goals for Leipzig this season.
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