Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are reportedly interested in signing Paris Saint-Germain defender Milan Skriniar, as per Caught Offside.
After running his contract down with Inter Milan, the 29-year-old joined Les Parisiens as a free agent last year. He helped his side win the Ligue 1 title last term but has found it difficult to get regular first-team football this season.
So, Caught Offside claim that the Slovak is prepared to leave the club to play regularly elsewhere and PSG are ready to cash-in on him for a fee of around £29m.
The defender isn’t short of potential suitors as Tottenham have registered their interest in signing him and along with them, Newcastle United are also in this race. But, Spurs want him as a rotational option as Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are Ange Postecoglou’s preferred centre-back partnership.
Arsenal are also interested in him and are ready to give him the first-team spot to persuade him to join so Tottenham are currently outsiders in this race.
Battle
Apart from Arsenal, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Aston Villa, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, Al Nassr and Atletico Madrid are also ready to give him the first-team role so it won’t be straightforward for the Gunners to get the deal done.
The report say although Les Parisiens want £29m for Skriniar, they would be open to accepting a fee of around £21m to let him leave the club. So, he is available for a bargain deal considering the quality he possesses.
Arsenal have a strong defensive department. William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are Mikel Arteta’s preferred first-team centre-back partnership so, it is not sure how Arsenal will give Skriniar the starting role if they hire him.
The Slovakia international, standing at 6ft 2in tall, is comfortable playing out from the back, is good in the air, efficient in defensive contributions and also reads the game well. So, he would be a shrewd acquisition for Arsenal or Tottenham if either club purchase him.
However, it is going to be interesting to see where Skriniar eventually ends up if he leaves Parc des Princes in January or next summer.
