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Arsenal eyeing late swoop to sign midfielder in £25m deal

By on July 20, 2017

According to the Evening Standard, Arsenal are keeping a close eye on Ross Barkley’s situation and could look to snap-up the midfielder in a cut-price £25m deal later this summer.

Barkley’s future at Goodison Park is in serious doubt as he has just 12 months left on his current contract and is refusing to sign an extension [sound familiar?].

The England international is recovering from groin surgery but is expected to be fit before the close of the transfer window and a move away from Everton is almost certain before August 31st.

The 23-year-old has attracted plenty of interest from Premier League clubs, namely Tottenham, but the Evening Standard claim Arsenal are also keeping a close eye on his situation.

The newspaper says no club is prepared to meet Everton’s £50m valuation but there is confidence the Merseysiders will be willing to business at around £25m later in the window.

Barkley has made it clear he won’t sign a new deal and will therefore be a free agent in 12 months time so the Toffees are likely to cash-in now rather than risk losing him for nothing.

I think it would be an excellent piece of business if we could bag him for £25m as he’s a huge talent who would give us another very useful option to have in the squad as Barkley is able to play in a variety of positions.

However, he’s mainly played as a central midfielder and I think that’s an area we need to strengthen as Santi Cazorla is struggling with on-going Achilles issues that have hampered him for the past two years.

READ: Arsenal face competition for £50m attacker

Wenger has already signed striker Alexandre Lacazette and defender Sead Kolasinac and I think we’ll bring in at least one, if not two, further new faces but only time will tell if Barkley will be one of them.