Arsenal and Man Utd battle over Laporte, exit for Januzaj?

Young French centre-back has a £32m buyout clause but both sides want him as Ajax chase Januzaj

Aymeric Laporte of Athletic Club
(Image credit: Denis Doyle/Getty)

The latest youngster being linked to a move to the Premier League is Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte. According to the Daily Express it is threadbare Arsenal who are leading the chase for the 20-year-old French centre-back with the paper saying their man in Spain has confirmed that the Gunners are prepared to meet Laporte's "astronomical £32m buyout clause".

Then again, so are Manchester United, which means it could come down to which of the two clubs is ready to go the extra mile in negotiating personal terms with Laporte. At the moment, claims the Express, there's little to choose between Arsenal and United in the race to sign the Frenchman. Arsene Wenger is a fan of the young defender and has been monitoring him for a while. The Gunners boss is also under huge pressure to bring in some defensive reinforcements, but Laporte is a former teammate of United's Ander Herrera and that could swing it the Red Devils' way.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Bill Mann is a football correspondent for The Week.co.uk, scouring the world's football press daily for the popular Transfer Talk column.