Arsenal aim to beat West Ham to Rice replacement with £30m bid to seal signing of Newcastle target

Arsenal have entered the race to sign Monaco midfielder Youssouf Fofana – coincidentally after West Ham identified him as a potential replacement for Declan Rice.

This is according to L’Equipe, which has also named Newcastle as new contenders for the signature of Fofana after a season in which he made 47 appearances at club level and also earned his first 10 senior caps for the France national team.

Fofana has recently been linked with Liverpool and Chelsea, but has declared he doesn’t know if the time is right for him to leave Monaco.

Nevertheless, clubs are queuing up to give him something to think about in that regard. According to L’Equipe, West Ham have placed him on their shortlist as someone who could succeed Rice.

The West Ham captain is the subject of a bidding war between Arsenal and Manchester City this summer. There is an expectation that Rice will leave his current club, one way or the other.

He will leave a void for West Ham to fill, which is why they have been keeping tabs on Fofana. But L’Equipe suggests Arsenal are now on the Frenchman’s trail too.

If they miss out on Rice to Man City, Arsenal will have to react by bringing in another high-quality midfielder. In an ideal world, they need to make two signings for the role anyway, since Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey could leave.

In order to make Fofana one of their recruits, they would have to make a bid to Monaco in the region of €35m (£30m).

Newcastle and Italian duo join Arsenal and West Ham in Fofana race

As well as West Ham and Arsenal, Newcastle – who are also adding Sandro Tonali from AC Milan to their midfield – have now registered their interest in Fofana. Both the Gunners and the Magpies can offer Champions League football next season, whereas Europa Conference League champions West Ham will be in the Europa League.

Further afield, Fofana is also attracting interest from Inter and Roma in Serie A, who can offer Champions League and Europa League involvement respectively. Monaco, incidentally, will be out of UEFA competition altogether after only finishing sixth in Ligue 1 this season.

It could open the door for Fofana to move on and progress his career elsewhere. Despite the widespread interest in his services, though, no club has yet made a concrete approach for the 24-year-old.

Since he is only under contract at Monaco for another year with a 12-month option, though, his current club will not stand in the way of a sale if their asking price is met.

Monaco have had Fofana in their squad since January 2020, when they signed him from Strasbourg. Indeed, he has spent his entire club career in the French system so far.

A new challenge could be on the horizon for Fofana soon, but he may have to be patient for some clarity about his future.

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