Don't Miss

Arsenal locked in fierce battle to sign £15m star as Emery plots summer swoop

By mac14 on February 6, 2019

According to the Mirror, Arsenal are ready to battle it out with Tottenham and Chelsea over the signing of £15m-rated Norwich City full-back Max Aarons this summer.

Unai Emery had his hands tied during the January window as no money was made available for permanent transfers so the boss was forced to scour the loan market for new signings with only Denis Suarez arriving from Barcelona.

However, Emery is expected to have a reasonable budget in the summer and strengthening the defence is set to be a priority as we’ve endured another nightmare campaign at the back with 36 goals conceded in just 25 league games.

While I hope Emery targets a top class centre-back, Arsenal also need to strengthen at right-back as Hector Bellerin is facing a long road to recovery from a serious knee injury while Stephan Lichtsteiner is set to leave when his contract expires in June.

Carl Jenkinson could also leave the club so a new right-back is required and the Mirror claim that Arsenal have joined Tottenham and Chelsea in the race to sign Max Aarons from Norwich.

The newspaper says Spurs are in pole position having chased the 19-year-old for some time but Arsenal have also registered their interest after watching Aarons put in some superb performances this season.

Norwich are determined to try and hang on to the full-back and the Mirror claim they’ve slapped a £15m price-tag on his head but that may not deter the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham from pursuing a deal this summer.

Aarons joined Norwich from Luton in 2014 and has established himself as a first team regular this season with 27 appearances to his name so far to help the Canaries climb to the top of the Championship table.

If they get promoted then Aarons may be tempted to stay at Carrow Road for another year to play in the Premier League with them but it would be tough for him to turn down Arsenal if we come calling in the summer.

We’ve tried the cheap option by signing a veteran like Lichtsteiner for nothing but I think Arsenal need to invest in the future and Aarons would be an excellent long-term replacement who could push Bellerin over the coming years.