Danny Welbeck reported back for pre-season training at Arsenal yesterday but it seems like the England striker won’t be around much longer in north London.
According to the Evening Standard “his Arsenal future looks uncertain” with new boss Unai Emery having informed Welbeck that “he will not be a regular” this season.
With Emery having forked out £70m on summer signings, he’s “under pressure to cut a bloated wage bill” and Welbeck’s weekly wages of £115,000 would be a good start to his belt-tightening.
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Open to offers
Still only 27, the injury-prone Welbeck is believed to be weighing up his options, aware that Arsenal have put the word out that they will listen to offers for the player who scored five goals in 28 Premier League appearances last season.
Welbeck, who signed for Arsenal from Manchester United in 2014, has one year remaining on his current deal and according to the Standard he “has attracted interest from Turkish side Besiktas”.
However, he’d prefer to stay in England and that’s apparently put Everton, Bournemouth and Southampton on alert.
Hammers in for Perez?
Another striker set to empty his Emirates locker is Lucas Perez with BBC Sport claiming that West Ham are “close” to signing the Spaniard in a £5m deal.
It’s said that the Hammers did have their eye on Porto’s Moussa Marega, but his £30m price tag has dampened their enthusiasm, and instead they’ve turned their attention to Perez.
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini believes Perez has the quality to impress in east London and the fact he’s available at a bargain price is likely to lead him to make his move before Thursday’s deadline.
Battle for Boateng
Are Arsenal ready to rival Manchester United for Bayern Munich star Jerome Boateng? Yes, says The Sun, with the paper reporting that Emery is keen to muscle Jose Mourinho out of the way and land the 29-year-old centre-back.
Valued at £45m, the Germany international is on United’s radar after they failed to land either Harry Maguire or Yerry Mina. But the Sun claims that the “Gunners are aiming to snare the ex-Manchester City” ace as Emery looks to strengthen his backline.
Boateng has lost his place in the Bayern line-up to Mats Hummels and Niklas Sule and he’s open to offers, although both United and Arsenal may have to contend with interest from Paris Saint-Germain, who are also said to be circling the defender.
Injury crisis
Meanwhile French outlet Telefoot claims the Gunners and PSG are also vying for the services of AC Milan’s Swiss left-back Ricardo Rodriguez with Emery desperate for cover in a position where he’ll be without the injured Sead Kolasinac for several months and Nacho Monreal is also carrying a knock.
The asking price set by Milan is £25m with PSG also exploring the possibility of signing Alex Sandro from Juventus.
