Arsenal hope to circumvent £70m fee with Pepe-style payments

Matt Stead

Arsenal will ‘step up their attempts’ to sign a centre-half after agreeing to sell Laurent Koscielny.

The Gunners will receive around £4.6m from Bordeaux for their captain, leaving Unai Emery with a vacancy to fill at centre-half.

Kieran Tierney remains a target but Dayot Upamecano of RB Leipzig has emerged as the frontrunner.

James Olley of the London Evening Standard says Arsenal are ‘keen’ on the 20-year-old, who has been the subject of a reported £55m bid.

But that will not be enough as the Bundesliga side want around £70m after ‘basing their valuation’ on seeing Harry Maguire join Manchester United for £85m.

Arsenal will still pursue the deal and ‘seek to make similar arrangements’ to the one that saw Nicolas Pepe join for an initial £20m from Lille.

The £72m they will pay the French side is to be staggered over five years, and while Leipzig are ‘reluctant sellers’, Arsenal will hope to persuade them.