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Arsenal register interest in signing La Liga full-back ahead of possible £22m swoop

By mac14 on June 28, 2018

According to reports in Spain via the Metro, Arsenal have registered their interest in signing Real Betis full-back Junior Firpo and could trigger a £22m buyout clause in his contract this summer.

Unai Emery has wasted no time revamping the squad he inherited from Arsene Wenger after snapping-up right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner from Juventus while goalkeeper Bernd Leno has arrived from Bayer Leverkusen.

We’re also being strongly linked with the likes of Lucas Torreira, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Caglar Soyuncu and Ever Banega but it seems Emery is also hoping to strengthen on the left side of his defence.

The Metro are citing a report from AS that claims Arsenal have registered their interest in signing Real Betis star Junior Firpo after scouts were impressed by his performances last season.

The Spanish publication says Betis are aware of Arsenal’s interest and are desperately trying to tie Firpo down to a new contract before we decide to trigger a £22m release clause in his existing deal.

Firpo was born in the Dominican Republic but moved to Spain when he was six-years-old and joined the Betis youth system in 2014 from local side Puerto Malagueño.

The 21-year-old broke in to the first team during the second half of last season after making his debut in February he went on to start 14 La Liga games during the closing stages of the campaign and provided an impressive 2 goals and 2 assists in those matches.

It seems the youngster’s potential has alerted Arsenal scouts and we could look to bring in Firpo as a potential replacement for Nacho Monreal amid speculation he could be heading back to Spain.

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Firpo is predominantly a left-back but he’s also capable of playing in the middle of the back four or even in midfield so his versatility would be a useful asset for Emery if we decide to push ahead with a move.