Arsenal have made an approach to sign RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande after losing out to Chelsea in the race to sign Morgan Rogers, according to reports.
Arsenal's pursuit of Diomande
Mikel Arteta had made Rogers his top attacking target for the summer transfer window, but Chelsea have now agreed a £117 million deal with Aston Villa to sign the 23-year-old. Diomande, meanwhile, has attracted interest from both Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain, but RB Leipzig have been standing firm over their €120 million (£102m) valuation of the Ivory Coast international.
Fabrizio Romano now reports that Arsenal have entered the race for Diomande and are considering a move for the 19-year-old, who scored 12 goals and registered eight assists in the Bundesliga last season.
Romano's comments on Arsenal's moves
‘Arsenal, over the last few days, made some checks with the agents of Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig to understand if there was still a chance to enter the deal,’ Romano said on his YouTube channel. ‘But don’t forget, Diomande has an agreement for personal terms with Paris Saint-Germain, and Paris Saint-Germain are in negotiations with Leipzig. But Arsenal made some calls to understand the situation of Diomande.’
Romano also noted that Arsenal are monitoring Julian Alvarez's situation at Atletico Madrid amid tension with Barcelona. ‘It’s very tense between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, obviously if Julian Alvarez can’t go to Barcelona because Atletico don’t want to sell the player to Barcelona. Atletico are saying they don’t want to sell the player in general but in case there is a broken relationship between Julian and Atletico, and they decide to sell the player in August, Arsenal could still be interested in the situation.’
Impact of losing Rogers
Romano added: ‘We have to be very attentive to Arsenal now because losing Morgan Rogers is a big blow, it’s the reality, he’s the player they wanted, their number-one target and so they were pushing to get the deal done. Big surprise he goes to Chelsea, there will be consequences in the market, for Arsenal, for sure, it’s a big shock they didn’t expect this to happen.’
