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Wilshere replacement? Arsenal in talks to sign £26.3m international midfielder

By on May 1, 2018

According to Sky Sports, Arsenal have held talks with Bryan Cristante’s representatives about making a move from Atalanta to north London this summer.

Arsenal are searching to find Arsene Wenger’s replacement but head of recruitment Sven Mislintat is still pushing ahead with our summer transfer business.

A new central midfielder is expected to be on the agenda as Jack Wilshere is being tipped to leave after failing to sign a new contract while there are also doubts over the future of Aaron Ramsey – who’s approaching the final year of his deal.

I also think Granit Xhaka has been too inconsistent to be considered a reliable midfielder while we didn’t replace Francis Coquelin following his move in January so a central midfielder is needed.

It looks like the club have already got their targets in mind as Sky Sports News claim we’ve held talks with Cristante’s representatives about a potential move to the Emirates this summer.

The Italian international has been in excellent form since joining Atalanta on loan from Benfica and he’s scored 12 goals in 41 appearances in all competitions this season.

The 23-year-old is understood to be keen on the idea of playing in England but we aren’t the only club in the race as the report says Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund have also expressed their interest.

Atalanta are expected to use their option to make Cristante’s loan move permanent but TeamTalk claim the Serie A club are ready to turn a quick profit by selling the midfielder for £26.3m.

That sort of money is more than reasonable in today’s overly-inflated market so it will be interesting to see if Arsenal decide to formalise their interest in Cristante or pursue other targets.