We kind of forgot that big clubs might fancy some of Arsenal’s over-achievers, while James Maddison has a queue of suitors.
ON YOUR GAARD AGAINST PREDATORS PSG
With all the talk of what Arsenal will do to improve/stand still this summer, it’s been almost forgotten that there are bigger clubs across Europe who will look enviously on at their players. And the Daily Mail brings us news of PSG interest in Martin Odegaard, who made our one-per-club team of the season.
‘Paris Saint-Germain have made surprise soundings’ is the opening line of the Mail’s story, but is it that surprising? He has had an outstanding season for title challengers. They then call it a ‘shock move’ but really, we should be surprised if bigger clubs with deeper pockets do not try to buy Arsenal’s biggest assets.
Arsenal are of course unlikely to sell Odegaard; they do want to make sales to add to an already-impressive £180m transfer fund but that is likely to include Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey, Kieran Tierney and Rob Holding, and is very unlikely to include their captain.
READ: Huge Arsenal blow as rivals ‘table staggering £95m package’ for top target after private ‘talks’
MADD ABOUT THE BOY
Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle (the Daily Mail also add Manchester City) are all being linked by the Daily Mirror with a move for Leicester man James Maddison (who made our all-time relegated XI), who is out of contract next summer so might be available for around £40m after the Foxes’ relegation, though the East Midlands club are hoping a bidding war pushes the price up beyond £50m.
Harvey Barnes and Wilfred Ndidi are also likely to be sold by Leicester, with the former strongly linked with Aston Villa and West Ham, who would be interested at around £40m. Ndidi would be an excellent signing by any Premier League club outside the elite.
MAC ALLISTER MOVE ‘IMMINENT’
The first big announcement of the summer is likely to be Brighton’s World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister joining Liverpool in what could be a £70m deal.
Fabrizio Romano has tweeted: ‘Sources expect Alexis Mac Allister to clarify his future by the end of next week with move considered ‘imminent’. 🚨🇦🇷#BHAFC Liverpool are pushing to get deal done as personal terms are almost agreed — final details have to be clarified asap in order to avoid surprises.’
Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi confirmed on Sunday after a tearful Mac Allister played his last game for the club: “I think it can be the last game for Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo. It is right that they can leave, they can play at a higher level.”
