Arsenal transfer news: Steven N’Zonzi, Ousmane Dembele, Shkodran Mustafi

N’Zonzi wants more money

Steven N’Zonzi is delaying a transfer to Roma in the hope that Arsenal or Everton will move for him.

So says the Daily Mirror, which claims that the former Stoke midfielder wants to return to the Premier League rather than move to Italy.

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Why? Because, according to Italian paper Gazzetta dello Sport, N’Zonzi “is looking to earn £3.5m a season which only Premier League clubs will be willing to pay”.

Currently with La Liga outfit Sevilla, the French World Cup winner is increasingly at loggerheads with his club, who “insist his £35m release clause must be activated”. Roma might do just that, but apparently they can only offer him £2.6m a season and the 29-year-old N’Zonzi thinks he’s worth more.

Arsenal boss Unai Emery wasn’t giving much away when asked if he might make a move for a player he came to know well during his time in charge at Sevilla.

“At the moment I am very happy with the players who are here with us,” he said. Pressed specifically on N’Zonzi, Emery added: “I am telling you, and we are saying internally, we are OK. And only want positives when we take the option to sign - but not especially for N’Zonzi.”

Arsenal encouraged

Still in Spain, the Daily Express says that Ousmane Dembele’s representatives are “encouraging Arsenal to intensify their efforts to sign the Barcelona star”.

The Gunners have been linked with the French international for a number of weeks after reports reached them that the 21-year-old is “unsettled” by Malcom’s arrival at the Camp Nou.

The Express has tuned into Spanish radio station Cadena SER, who have sworn blind that Dembele’s agents have been in touch with the Gunners to report that they “would happily listen to any offers that arrive before the transfer window closes next week”.

Auf wiedersehen, Mustafi

Shkodran Mustafi is set for what the Mirror calls an “Arsenal exit” with the Gunners slapping a £22.3m price tag on the German defender.

The 26-year-old has never really made the grade since signing two years ago from Valencia for £35m, and Arsenal boss Emery is willing to listen to offers now that he has Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Rob Holding and Konstantinos Mavropanos.

The Mirror says that Turkish outfit Galatasaray have made an initial loan offer for Mustafi, but Arsenal “want a permanent deal”.