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Arsenal make approach to hijack Man Utd’s move for £10m star

By on August 16, 2016

According to ESPN, Arsenal have made an approach to Southampton to try and hijack Manchester United’s proposed £10m deal to sign Jose Fonte.

As we all know by now, Arsene Wenger is desperately trying to bring in another centre-back before the close of the transfer window after Gabriel joined Per Mertesacker on the sidelines.

We’ve been struggling to agree a deal for top target Shkodran Mustafi with the boss reportedly unwilling to meet Valencia’s £25m asking price so it looks like he’s looking in to cheaper alternatives.

A few names have been suggested in the media recently but the latest is Jose Fonte with ESPN claiming that Arsenal have made an approach to Southampton over a possible deal to sign the defender.

Fonte has been a consistent presence at the back for Southampton since their promotion to the Premier League and the report suggests that they would be prepared to do business at around £10m.

Although he may only be a short-term solution, that seems like a decent deal to me for a player of Fonte’s quality and experience, and it would leave Wenger with plenty of money left over to spend on strengthening our attack.

However, a deal isn’t going to be easy to pull off as ESPN claim that Man Utd are also in talks over a deal to sign Fonte and the Portuguese international is understood to favour a move to Old Trafford in order to play under compatriot Jose Mourinho.

The report says that United chief Ed Woodward is already trying to thrash out a deal directly with Fonte’s agent – Jorge Mendes – who also represents Mourinho, so it looks like we’re fighting a losing battle with this one.

The only good news is that ESPN claim Mourinho has to sell one of his current defenders before United can seal a deal for Fonte with Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind among those available for transfer. Both players are on big money so they may prove difficult to shift, which could leave the door open for Arsenal to snap up Fonte.

MORE: £52m striker flies-in for Arsenal talks

I still think we’re pushing hard for a deal to sign Mustafi but if Valencia refuse to budge on their asking price, then Fonte would be a solid short-term solution. Let’s see how things progress…..