Arsenal to sign one of three midfielders, with dream Prem coup, Bayern ace and star with €60m clause all possible

Arsenal aim to make a midfield signing comparable to Declan Rice and a report has detailed the three high profile names the Gunners have narrowed their search down to.

Arsenal broke their transfer record when splashing out £105m to pluck Declan Rice from West Ham last summer. Eyebrows were raised at the size of the fee, though few can argue Rice isn’t already well on his way to justifying the price tag.

The 25-year-old has been everything Mikel Arteta could’ve hoped for and more thus far. However, according to a new report, the Gunners boss wants to provide Rice with a midfield partner of equal standing.

As cited by Caught Offside it’s claimed Arsenal have narrowed their search for a top class midfielder down to three names.

First on the list is Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz who has been on Arsenal’s radar for many a year.

The Gunners lodged three separate bids for the Brazilian in the summer window of 2022. Luiz ultimately elected to remain with Villa and went on to sign a new contract shortly after.

However, Fabrizio Romano has since confirmed Luiz, 25, remains Arteta’s ‘dream’ midfield buy.

The new report suggests he’s Arsenal’s preferred target over all others and the club are reportedly ‘planning a new attempt to convince him to join their project in the summer.’

The biggest of Arsenal’s bids back in 2022 totalled just £25m. Fast forward to present day and Aston Villa now value their midfield ace around the £100m mark.

Arsenal join Man Utd, Liverpool on trail of Bayern ace

The second name listed is Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich.

Bayern’s streak of lifting a major trophy every season dating back to the 2011/12 campaign looks in serious jeopardy.

The German giant lost the domestic super cup, are out of the DFB Pokal, trail Bayer Leverkusen by five points in the Bundesliga and are a goal down to Lazio at the half way mark of their Round of 16 tie in the Champions League.

With Thomas Tuchel’s position under threat, major change could be on the horizon in Bavaria and Kimmich is among the higher profile players who could depart.

The classy midfielder, 28, will enter the final year of his contract in the summer. Bayern hope to negotiate fresh terms, but if a new agreement isn’t reached, they will entertain a sale.

Manchester United and Liverpool have also been linked with Kimmich, while Arsenal can now reportedly be added to that list.

Release clause makes option No 3 simple

The final name cited was Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi.

The 25-year-old is primarily a holding midfielder and would free up Rice to assume more of a box-to-box role.

Zubimendi’s current contract with La Real contains a modest release clause worth €60m (approx. £51m).

Signing Zubimendi or Kimmich – who’d represent far cheaper options when compared to Luiz – would allow Arsenal to splash the cash in other departments of their squad too…

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