TuttoMercatoWeb and Gianluigi Longari revealed earlier this week that Arsenal are the favourites to sign Bayer Leverkusen star Edmond Tapsoba in the upcoming summer transfer window.
That came in as a shock as Tapsoba is tied down to a contract at the BayArena until 2026. Besides, he will cost an awful amount of money this summer, which complicates things even further for Arsenal.
However, it now looks like the Gunners really do have a chance of signing the 22-year-old centre-half, who is ‘incredibly quick, composed on the ball and ridiculously strong’, according to the official Bundesliga website.
Arsenal can sign Tapsoba in a shock swap deal
Kicker have revealed today that Arsenal are indeed interested in signing Tapsoba, and they’ve hinted that a swap deal could make this incredibly difficult move possible this summer.
Another report from Kicker claims that Leverkusen are interested in signing Arsenal’s William Saliba in the coming weeks. The German outfit view the young French defender as a very good replacement for Sven Bender and Aleksandar Dragovic, but Arsenal’s demands complicate things.
The Gunners reportedly want £26 million for the former Saint-Etienne man – a fee that is deemed too high by Leverkusen. However, the report hints that a shock Saliba-plus-cash offer from Arsenal for Tapsoba could well do the trick.
Leverkusen want £70m for Tapsoba
There’s no way Arsenal can afford £70 million this summer, but a swap deal will bring that fee down considerably.
That could well be an option that Mikel Arteta and Edu are considering at the moment, especially as we all know that the Gunners boss doesn’t really fancy Saliba.
The young Frenchman was expected by many to feature regularly for Arsenal once he returned from Saint-Etienne last year. Arteta, however, deemed that he wasn’t ready and kept him away from the side till January. He then shipped him out on loan to Nice.
Saliba has definitely done enough over the last five months to warrant an opportunity at Arsenal. However, if Arteta really doesn’t have him in his plans, using him to sign a player like Tapsoba would be the best thing for all parties involved.
Read more: Unai Emery makes surprise Arsenal claim after winning another Europa League trophy
