THE future of Bayern Munich midfielder Javi Martinez is causing great excitement among the British press with the Daily Telegraph one of several papers to report that Arsenal “have made an enquiry” about the scintillating Spanish playmaker.
Gunners gaffer Arsene Wenger is in the market for a new central midfielder with the Telegraph declaring that the position is one of his “two key transfer priorities this summer”.
Although Arsenal have been linked of late with Bayer Leverkusen’s Lars Bender, it’s believed Wenger would prefer to welcome Martinez to the Emirates – and that dream could come true in the coming weeks.
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The 25-year-old Martinez, who only arrived at Bayern two years ago in a club record £32 million deal, has struggled to establish himself under Pep Guardiola this season and the Telegraph says Wenger is anxious to learn if the German giants “would be willing to sell”. If they are, Wenger could pair Martinez with Aaron Ramsey in the Arsenal midfield.
The Telegraph claims that Wenger has a transfer budget of “around £100 million” to spend this summer and another player rumoured to be on his shopping list is Barcelona winger Cristian Tello. But the Nutty Professor better act fast because Metro claims that Liverpool have made an approach to Barcelona to sign Tello at the end of the season.
The 22-year-old was linked with the Reds last year but instead the youngster signed a new deal with Barcelona. Since then, however, Tello hasn’t kicked on and Metro says Liverpool, Arsenal and Paris Saint-German are all circling, though the French side are unlikely to table a bid given their run-in with Uefa recently after breaching Financial Fair Play regulations. Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is believed to be in pole position to land Tello provided he meets Barcelona’s asking price of £8m.
Hands up who remembers Emmanuel Frimpong, the former Arsenal midfielder of whom great things were expected a couple of years ago? Alas, the 22-year-old never made the grade with the Gunners, although he has been named in Ghana's provisional World Cup squad.
But the Daily Mail says that Frimpong could go to Brazil without a regular employer after Barnsley released him just four months after he signed from Arsenal. Sent off on his debut for the Yorkshire side, Frimpong played just nine games for Barnsely before being shown the door after their recent relegation to League One.
Finally, the Daily Star reports that rumours of Shinji Kagawa’s impending departure from Old Trafford have been greatly exaggerated. The Manchester United midfielder was mentioned as a possible target for Italian outfit Napoli, particularly as he never found much favour with David Moyes during his short-lived spell in charge of the Red Devils.
But now that the Scot has cleared his desk, Kagawa’s agent says the player is looking to remain loyal to United. "He is not unhappy at Manchester United, so there's no reason to talk about him departing to another club,” said Thomas Kroth when asked about a possible move to Napoli in the summer.
