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Arsenal could trigger £35m release clause as Emery eyes 6ft 5in midfield beast

By mac14 on June 3, 2018

According to reports in Spain via TeamTalk, Arsenal are favourites to sign Steven N’Zonzi after Unai Emery switched his attention to signing the £35m-rated Sevilla midfielder this summer.

Emery wants to revamp the squad he inherited from Arsene Wenger and a new central midfielder is on the agenda as Santi Cazorla is set to leave the club when his contract expires later this month.

The future’s of Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey are also in serious doubt so we need to sign at least one new central midfielder and we’ve been strongly linked with a swoop for Corentin Tolisso in recent days.

However, TeamTalk claim Emery has now turned his attention to N’Zonzi after Bayern Munich made it clear they wouldn’t even entertain our £60m proposal for Tolisso this summer.

Emery knows N’Zonzi well from their time together at Sevilla where they won the Europa League and it looks like the Spanish coach is now hoping for a reunion in north London.

TeamTalk cite a report from Spanish publication Estadio Deportivo that claims Arsenal are now favourites to sign N’Zonzi and could trigger his £35m release clause to get a deal wrapped-up.

The 6ft 5in midfielder has been likened to Patrick Vieira in the past and he would certainly add some physicality to our side if we brought him to the Emirates this summer.

The Frenchman also has experience of playing in the Premier League following spells at Blackburn and Stoke so he shouldn’t take long to settle in England if a deal was to come to fruition.

READ: Arsenal make £58m bid to sign Portuguese winger

However, N’Zonzi wouldn’t be considered as a long-term solution to our midfield problems as turns 30 later this year so it might be too much of a risk for us to spend £35m on him.

Emery only has around £50m-£70m to spend this summer so to use a large portion of that money on an ageing midfielder wouldn’t be wise considering we also need to sign a goalkeeper, centre-back and winger.