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Arsenal keen to sign 23-year-old Spanish star, deal can be agreed at £27m

By mac14 on July 8, 2020

According to reports in Spain via the Metro, Arsenal are in the race to sign Unai Nunez this summer but will face plenty of competition for the £27m-rated Athletic Bilbao defender.

Mikel Arteta has improved things since arriving in December but he knows we still need to strengthen throughout the squad this summer if we’re to break back into the top four and defence continues to be an area of concern.

Sokratis could be on the move after falling out-of-favour, Rob Holding has struggled to rediscover his form following a serious knee injury and Shkodran Mustafi’s future remains unclear despite the fact he’s put-in some solid displays recently.

William Saliba will finally arrive from Saint Etienne this summer and Pablo Mari has joined permanently from Flamengo but Arsenal are still expected to be in the market for another central defender to help improve our defence next season.

Nunez has emerged as a possible target as the Metro are citing a report from the newspaper version of AS [can’t locate the online version of the article] that claims Arsenal are battling it out with Everton, West Ham, AC Milan and Monaco to sign the defender.

The 23-year-old came through the youth ranks at Bilbao and burst onto the scene with some excellent performances after making himself a first team regular during the 2017/2018 campaign.

He earned a reputation as one of the best young defenders in Spanish football and even earned a cap for the senior Spanish national team having previously represented his country at U21 level.

However, he’s fallen down the pecking order this season and is refusing to sign a new contract so the report suggests that Nunez will leaving this summer and a move to the Premier League appears to be a real possibility.

The Spanish publication, via the Metro, claims that Nunez has a relatively low release clause of £27m and Arsenal are among a host of clubs showing a keen interest in securing his signature this summer.

Arteta is going to be working from a tight budget in the transfer window so £27m for a player with huge potential and who should increase in value over the coming years is sure to appeal to the clubs hierarchy.

Nunez would be a cheaper alternative to Dayot Upamecano – who’s also been strongly linked with Arsenal – so this could be a shrewd piece of business if we could win the race for his signature this summer.