Transfer Gossip: Arsenal to include top-class forward in ground-breaking Kylian Mbappe deal; Euro giants ‘accelerate’ move for Chelsea attacker

Arsenal are willing to use one of their most important players in a player-plus-cash deal to sign world-class forward Kylian Mbappe, Chelsea have received a loan offer from Europe for one of their wingers, while Sunday’s Transfer Gossip includes Fulham reaching an agreement to land an Ajax player.

BIG KYLIAN MBAPPE TO ARSENAL UPDATE

Arsenal are firmly in the race for Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe and are even happy to sacrifice a top attacker in order to get him before Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid, according to a report.

Mbappe has already revealed he will not be activating the option to extend his PSG contract from 2024 to 2025. Several outlets have reported that the forward wants to run down his PSG deal before leaving on a free transfer in summer 2024.

However, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has publicly stated this is ‘impossible’. He wants Mbappe to either sign a completely new contract or be sold this transfer window, as PSG cannot afford to lose arguably the best player in the world for nothing.

On Friday, it was claimed Mbappe had received the ‘offer of the century’ to remain in the French capital. PSG have supposedly put a 10-year deal worth an astonishing €1billion (£865m) on the table for him.

But PSG raised eyebrows on Saturday by leaving the France captain out of the squad for their pre-season tour of Japan. This resulted in links with Chelsea, as French reporter Fabrice Hawkins claims the Blues are ‘studying’ whether they can sign Mbappe.

He also has an offer from Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal, who are willing to pay PSG a whopping €200m (£173m) to strike a deal. Man Utd could have the finances to bid for Mbappe if Sheikh Jassim completes his takeover of the club, while Madrid are understood to be frontrunners in the chase for the electric star.

But according to the latest from Football Transfers, Arsenal are trying to disrupt all of those club’s plans by getting to Mbappe first.

Second source confirms Martinelli could head to PSG

And they confirm a previous report from the Daily Express which claimed Gabriel Martinelli could be sent to PSG in a player-plus-cash bid. Football Transfers state that Arsenal are ‘keeping a close eye on Mbappe’ and ‘may use Martinelli as a makeweight’ to reach an agreement with PSG.

The Gunners man has emerged into a top Premier League winger, having netted 15 goals in 36 matches last season. Of course, he is not on Mbappe’s level, but the Arsenal deal would make some sense for PSG. Martinelli would provide them with a replacement for Mbappe at left wing. And the Ligue 1 giants could then capture Dusan Vlahovic as a new centre-forward, too.

Arsenal will have been given hope about signing Mbappe after recently finding out they would be his first choice, should he opt to join an English side. As per the Independent, the 24-year-old has been impressed by the work Mikel Arteta has done at the Emirates. Plus, Mbappe would like the challenge of helping Arsenal re-gain the Prem title.

Although, it is clear that if Arsenal are to capture Mbappe, they must put in some serious work to push Madrid aside. Mbappe has huge admiration for the Spanish club and supposedly already has an agreement in place to sign for them next.

CHELSEA MAN WANTED IN ITALY

Lazio have made an approach to try and take Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi to Serie A, according to a report.

Hudson-Odoi has fallen down the pecking order at Chelsea in recent seasons. He resultantly spent last term on loan at Bayer Leverkusen in a bid to revitalise his career.

However, he could only find the back of the net once in 21 appearances as his woes continued.

Hudson-Odoi is now back in West London, but that may not be the case for long. Amid Chelsea’s mass clear-out, they have been tipped to offload the Englishman as well.

On July 4, Chelsea were backed to brutally terminate Hudson-Odoi’s contract a year early to allow him to find a new club. That has yet to happen, although he did become a target for Fulham when they were unsure whether Willian would re-sign at Craven Cottage.

Willian ended up staying with Fulham, which means that transfer is off the cards. But as per Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, Lazio are trying to snap Hudson-Odoi up.

It is claimed they have ‘accelerated’ their pursuit of him by submitting a loan offer. Lazio’s proposal is a season-long loan with the option to buy in summer 2024. This would give them a year to monitor Hudson-Odoi’s performances before deciding whether a permanent move would be worth it.

Despite the 22-year-old’s recent struggles, Lazio are confident he will do well at the Stadio Olimpico. This is because their manager, Maurizio Sarri, knows Hudson-Odoi well from his time in charge of Chelsea.

Sarri is one of the main drivers behind Lazio’s push for the wide man. Such a transfer is described as being Hudson-Odoi’s ‘best option’ as he aims to get his career back on track. And a move would also appeal to Chelsea, as they are trying to reduce their squad size to make it easier for new boss Mauricio Pochettino to succeed.

FULHAM CLOSE TO AJAX DEAL

Fulham are one step closer to snaring Calvin Bassey from Ajax after striking an agreement with the Dutch outfit, according to David Ornstein of The Athletic.

Bassey only joined Ajax in July last year as they paid Rangers around £23m for him. But he could now be on the move again, this time to the Prem.

After previously being linked with Roberto de Zerbi’s Brighton, Fulham have put themselves in pole position to snap him up. The Cottagers recently began negotiations with Ajax and have now agreed a €21m (£18.1m) deal.

Fulham will now aim to sort out personal terms with the centre-back. Once that is sorted, he will be able to undergo his medical and officially join Marco Silva’s team.

Interestingly, Ajax have included a sell-on clause in the agreement, which means they could receive a handy financial boost if Bassey goes on to join one of the biggest teams in England or beyond. Rangers negotiated a 10 per cent sell-on clause when originally selling Bassey to Ajax, which means they should get around £1.8m when the 23-year-old becomes a Fulham player.

Bassey will soon become Fulham’s first new arrival of the summer. They were also hoping to re-sign loanee Manor Solomon on a permanent basis, but he has gone to Tottenham instead.