Arsenal ‘prioritise’ signing £60m Real Madrid star after ‘obsessed’ Arteta’s makes ‘express request’
According to reports, Arsenal are stepping up their interest in Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz, who previously had a spell at Manchester City.
The Gunners have done some brilliant transfer business in recent years and they are not standing still as they look to establish themselves as one of the standout teams in Europe.
Diaz to Arsenal?
After prioritising the signing of Declan Rice last summer, Diaz is reportedly their new top target as it was recently claimed that Mikel Arteta is ‘obsessed’ with the Real Madrid star.
Diaz previously worked with Arteta during their time together with Manchester City. The Arsenal boss was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at the Etihad before he took over at the Emirates, while the 24-year-old made 15 senior appearances for the Premier League club before joining Real Madrid in 2019 for a deal worth around £22m.
His spell at Real Madrid took a while to get going as he was only a bit-part player before he joined AC Milan on loan ahead of the 2020/21 campaign. He ended up making over 125 appearances for the Serie A giants over three loan spells but he returned to Real Madrid ahead of this season.
The versatile attacking midfielder has eight goals and four assists in his 32 appearances across all competitions but he has been restricted to just 11 starts in La Liga.
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According to a report from Spanish outlet OK Diario, ‘Arsenal are willing to put an offer of 70 million euros [around £60m] on the table to convince Real Madrid to transfer Diaz this summer’.
‘Arsenal could be the next station in his career…’
Diaz is said to be Arsenal’s ‘priority target’ after Arteta submitted an ‘express request’ for the signing. The report goes on to explain why Arteta is ‘in love’ with the midfielder and it is noted that there ‘will be seismic movements’ at Real Madrid in the summer.
‘Mikel Arteta has asked the board to sign him because he believes that Brahim could give a leap in quality to a team that is always on the verge of winning the Premier League but that usually deflates in the last two months of competition.’
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‘Arteta is in love with Brahim’s football , whom he knows perfectly from his time at Manchester City , the club that took him to the Premier when the player was barely 17 years old.
‘He has a contract with Madrid until 2027 , but if all parties are happy, Arsenal could be the next station in his career. The relationship between the Gunners and the white club, born from that exchange between Reyes and Baptista, has been consolidated with more recent operations such as the loan of Ceballos or the transfer of Odegaard.
‘At the moment Brahim is delighted at Real Madrid and wants to stay, but this summer there will be seismic movements in the squad caused by the Mbappe earthquake.’
