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Arsenal lining-up £15m bid for Serie A defender – report

By on June 13, 2016

According to a report in the Daily Star, Arsenal are lining-up a £15m bid for Napoli full-back Elseid Hysaj this summer.

Arsene Wenger has already brought in midfielder Granit Xhaka but with Kieran Gibbs and Mathieu Debuchy expected to be sold and Calum Chambers set to be sent out on loan this summer, we also need to strengthen our options in defence.

Several names have been linked in recent weeks but the Daily Star claim that Arsenal are ready to formalise their interest in Hysaj with a £15m bid after scouting him throughout last season.

The 22-year-old only joined Napoli from Empoli last summer but enjoyed a hugely impressive first season with the club having played in all but one of their Serie A games as they finished runners-up to Juventus.

Hysaj has forged a reputation as one of the best young defenders in Italy and is currently at the European Championships where he put in a solid display during Albania’s 1-0 defeat to Switzerland over the weekend.

He’s predominantly played as a right-back for Napoli so the likelihood is Wenger is eyeing him as a replacement for Debuchy but he’s also capable of playing at left-back so I’m sure his versatility is appealing to the boss.

However, we could face some stiff competition for Hysaj’s signature as the Daily Star claim that the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United are also showing an interest in signing him.

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We’ll have to wait and see how this all develops over the coming weeks and as with any piece of transfer news these days, we should take it with a pinch of salt, but Hysaj would be a realistic signing given the amount of defenders we could lose this summer.

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