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Arsenal ready £20m bid after holding talks over defender deal

By on June 1, 2016

According to a report in the Gazzetta dello Sport, Arsenal are willing to meet Inter Milan’s £20m asking price for centre-back Jeison Murillo this summer after holding talks over a potential deal.

Arsene Wenger is widely reported to be in the market for a new defender to partner Laurent Koscielny next season with Per Mertesacker and Gabriel failing to convince that they are the answer to our defensive problems.

Familiar issues at the back cost us once again last season as our title bid collapsed during the second half of the campaign and I certainly think we need to sign a reliable centre-back to play alongside Kos next season.

Many players have been linked with a move to the Emirates in recent weeks but you can add another name to the list as Gazzetta dello Sport claim we are among the clubs who’ve made enquiries over the availability of Jeison Murillo.

The Colombian international only joined Inter Milan last summer but he enjoyed an excellent debut season at the San Siro and it appears his impressive form has caught Wenger’s attention.

The Italian newspaper suggests that Inter have a £39m deficit to make up this summer in order to comply with the Financial Fair Play rules so they are willing to cash-in on Murillo if their £20m (€25m) asking price is met.

And Gazzetta dello Sport state that Arsenal are willing to pay that figure to land the 24-year-old but could face competition from the likes of Leicester, Stoke and Zenit for his signature.

There is plenty of gossip flying about at this time of year so it’s always best to take these reports with a pinch of salt but it wouldn’t surprise me if Wenger is keen on Murillo as he was excellent for Inter last season.

 

I have my concerns over whether he’d be able to adapt to Premier League football but that’s always a potential issue when buying players from abroad and sometimes you have to just take a risk.