Gunners News

ARSENAL CLOSING IN ON YOUNG MIDFIELDER

North London giants Arsenal are keen to bolster their squad in midfield this summer and young Anderlecht midfielder Albert SambiLokonga has been targeted by the Gunners. According to reports in the media, Arsenal and Anderlecht have been in talks over the midfielder and it’s only a matter of time before the Gunners get their man.

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Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano revealed on Monday that the Gunners have offered an initial fee of €17.5m for Lokonga plus €4m in add-ons and that the only issue holding up an agreement is the 15% future sale request from his Belgian club.

Arsenal are not the only club keen on signing 21-year-old Lokonga. Italian Serie A giants Napoli are one of several clubs interested in him but the player has set his sights on joining the Gunners. He could be a direct replacement for Arsenal star Granit Xhaka who has been tipped to leave the club this summer.

Swiss international Xhaka has expressed his desire to join AS Roma to Arsenal and the two clubs are negotiating his sale. Roma have a new manager in Jose Mourinho who’s a big fan of Xhaka. The expectation is that the Switzerland skipper will move to the Rome-based club at the end of the Euro 2020 tournament. For now, his focus is on helping Switzerland reach their target at Euro 2020.

Xhakaproduced an impressive display and was deservedly named the man-of-the-match as Switzerland knocked out France on penalties after the two countries had been involved in a six-goal thriller. Switzerland led 1-0 at the break before France scored three goals in 18 second half minutes to turn the game on its head. The Swiss team then scored twice in the last nine minutes to take the game into extra time and penalties. Switzerland went on to win the penalty shootout 5-4 at the expense of tournament favourites France to advance into the quarterfinals where they would face Spain.