Arsenal have opened talks to seal the transfer of a target whom Juan Mata thinks was a better player than Manchester United and England ace Kobbie Mainoo at Euro 2024.
The Three Lions made back-to-back European Championship finals this summer as Gareth Southgate oversaw his last tournament in charge. But a 2-1 defeat in Berlin meant England’s wait for a first title continued as Spain became the first four-time winner of the UEFA trophy.
Mainoo eventually played a key role in England reaching the final of Euro 2024. The 19-year-old started it on the bench while Southgate persisted with his vanity project of playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield. But the teen started in each tie from the Round of 16 onward.
Arsenal open talks with PSG to sign Fabian Ruiz on loan
Yet Arsenal may now be about to sign a midfielder even better than Manchester United gem Mainoo. That is because Football Transfers reports that Arsenal have opened talks with Paris Saint-Germain over signing Euro 2024 winner Fabian Ruiz on loan with the obligation to buy.
Ruiz has struggled to hold down a spot in PSG’s engine room since joining from SSC Napoli in 2022. Christophe Galtier and Luis Enrique rarely relied on the 28-year-old in the seasons they spent in charge of Les Parisiens, who paid the Azzurri €21.5m (£18m) to seal his arrival.
READ MORE: Arsenal 24/25 confirmed signings, transfers in and out, loan exits and releases
Arsenal hope that Ruiz’s difficulties at Paris Saint-Germain have left the door open to sign a star of the Euro 2024 Team of the Tournament. But the Gunners can only persist with a deal if sporting director Edu first offloads a midfielder and then convinces PSG to sanction a loan.
Juan Mata would pick Fabian Ruiz over Kobbie Mainoo
Ruiz started in six of Spain’s seven games at Euro 2024 after taking their last group stage tie off. He also offered two goals and two assists, including one of each against Croatia in their first game in Germany and against Georgia in the last 16, and received just one yellow card.
Such was the Arsenal transfer target’s impact at Euro 2024 that former Manchester United midfielder and Spain hero Mata picked Ruiz over Mainoo in a combined XI for the final. The 29-cap international also offered PSG three goals and seven assists in 35 games last term.
“I love Mainoo,” Mata told talkSPORT. “What he’s done for United is incredible and his age, too. But Fabian Ruiz, he’s having a great Euros!”
Arsenal to say farewell to a Hale End trio with Ethan Nwaneri on the rise
In the latest episode of The Arsenal Insider Podcast, hosts Will Jones and Rahul Lakhani paid emotional tributes to a quartet of Hale End heroes in Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson, with moves away from N5 now appearing likely for the latter trio.
Jones and Lakhani reflected on Smith Rowe’s impact after first breaking into Arsenal’s first-team. The midfielder arguably saved Mikel Arteta’s job when brought into the side in 2020.
We also review of Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with AFC Bournemouth in their opening US pre-season tour game, along with debating what Edu Gaspar’s next steps in the transfer market will be.
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