Arsenal are open to including a player in their offer for Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze.
In an exclusive report by SunSport, Arsenal chief Andrea Berta had held talks with Eze’s representative as they look to beat Gunners North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur to his signature.
Eze, who turned 27 last week, is open to the move and has been training to stay fit in anticipation, but Palace are determined to extract the full £68million from his release clause.
Arsenal, who are on a spending spree, are closing in on signing Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres.
The Gunners have already agreed on personal terms with the player and are ironing out the final details with his club.
Mikel Arteta’s side have already signed Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and long-term target Martin Zubimendi.
They are also very close to signing Christian Norgaard.
Also Read: Eberechi Eze Happy At Crystal Palace
However, Arsenal chief Berta is determined to get the Eze deal over the line and will try to convince Palace, who might consider accepting a promising defender as part of the deal.
While the player being considered as a makeweight in the deal is not known, SunSport understands he is an emerging star who’s played a handful of games for the first team.
The Eagles are likely to lose Marc Guehi, who is wanted by both Liverpool and Newcastle, even though they have identified Sporting’s Ousmane Diomande as an ideal replacement.
Palace held a remote interest in Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah, who impressed during his brief spell at Selhurst Park, but his age and wages led Palace to close that chapter and turn their attention to the 21-year-old Diomande.
The addition of another young defender as part of the Eze move is likely to turn heads at Palace, as it would be useful, given that Chadi Riad, who joined Palace last summer from Real Betis, is expected to miss the start of next season due to the ACL injury he picked up.
Eze was the hero for Palace as he scored the only goal in the 1-0 win against Manchester City in last season’s FA Cup final.
