Bidding frenzy coming for Arsenal star who’ll be shoved out by hungry new signing

An Arsenal star whose prospects of regular game-time are set to decrease even further is already attracting mass interest from clubs including AC Milan ahead of the summer window, according to a report.

The Gunners have largely spent well and wisely in the transfer market in the Mikel Arteta era. Guided by sporting director Edu, Arsenal have taken just a few short years to assemble a squad capable of challenging for the Premier League title on a consistent basis.

Among Arsenal’s most recent batch of recruits last summer was Dutch defender Jurrien Timber. The 22-year-old cost £38.5m (including add-ons) to prise out of Ajax and can operate anywhere across the backline.

In a cruel stroke of luck, Timber suffered an ACL injury on his Premier League debut that required surgery to fix.

Timber had started that match as well as the Community Shield clash with Manchester City at left-back. In his absence, Oleksandr Zinchenko’s main competition has come from Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior.

Kiwior has come in for frequent criticism this term, though did stand up tall in the second half as Arsenal dismantled Liverpool at the Emirates last weekend.

DON’T MISS: Ivan Toney next club: The six strikers at risk of being dumped as Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd transfer chances ranked

However, with Zinchenko a firm favourite of Arteta, Tomiyasu primed to sign a new deal and Timber on the road to recovery, Kiwior’s outlook for regular minutes looks bleak.

What’s more, Arsenal sparked speculation Timber could play again this season when including the Dutchman in their squad for the Champions League knockout rounds.

Arsenal received enquiries from Serie A sides for Kiwior in the January window. But with Tomiyasu and Timber both injured at the time, the Gunners refused to entertain an exit.

EURO PAPER TALK: Ratcliffe pushing for Man Utd to sign lethal €60m striker; Arsenal, Tottenham scraping over classy LaLiga full-back

Bids to fly in for Kiwior

However, a fresh update from the Evening Standard has suggested the outcome could be different at season’s end. At that stage, Tomiyasu and especially Timber will be pushing hard for starts in the full-back positions.

Of course, Kiwior could be retained as back-up at centre-half. Though White would likely be moved centrally and replaced by Timber at right-back in the event Gabriel or William Saliba needed a rest.

The Standard state Arsenal certainly won’t lack for interest in Kiwior at season’s end. AC Milan are listed as monitoring the Poland international, though interest from other Serie A sides is widespread.

Kiwior rose to prominence during his time in Italy with Spezia. That is the key reason why clubs from that country are so enamoured with the player given they’ve already seen he can perform to a high level in Serie A.

It’s left open as to whether buying sides would favour a loan or permanent transfer. The final decision on the structure of any exit will be made by Arsenal anyway.