Luis coming to London?
Arsenal are tailing Atletico Madrid defender Filipe Luis, according to reports today.
The 33-year-old Brazilian and former Chelsea blocker is in the last year of his contract with the Europa League champions and “there are doubts whether he will extend his stay at the end of the season”, says The Sun.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Arsenal boss Unai Emery is reportedly is lining up a move for Luis when the transfer window opens in January, the newspaper adds.
Drop the price
Luis was approached by Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, but the deal is believed to have collapsed because the French champions refused to meet Atletico’s £27m asking price for the left-back.
Their offer of £4.5m was laughed out of Spain, but that’s what PSG believed a player of Luis’s age was worth. Arsenal are said to be of a similar opinion, but when the January transfer window opens, Luis will have just six months to run on his contract - and “as yet, there is nothing in place to extend his career”, The Sun says.
Emery is keen
The Daily Mirror, citing Spanish media, says that Emery is “keen on the experienced left-back as an upgrade on Sead Kolasinac and Nacho Monreal”. Luis spent a year at Chelsea in 2014-15 and failed to nail down a place in the starting XI, but Emery believes that his experience will steady Arsenal’s shaky defence.
Four-way battle
Meanwhile, the Mirror also says that Arsenal are one of a quartet of clubs chasing “rising Lille star Nicolas Pepe”.
The 23-year-old Ivory Coast winger has been tearing up Ligue 1 in recent months, and his 13 goals in 36 games last year have earned him what the Mirror describes as “rave reviews”.
Now, Arsenal, Lyon, Sevilla and Real Betis are all circling ahead of a January swoop and according to French sports daily L’Equipe Lyon, will sell for the right price. And what price is that? In excess of £33m, with Pepe having signed a new five-year deal with Lille in June 2017.
Koscielny considered Emirates exit
Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny was considering leaving the club before he suffered a serious Achilles injury in May, the Mirror reports.
The Frenchman had offers from Ligue 1 clubs Lyon, Monaco and Marseille. His agent, Stephane Courbis, told France Football magazine: “Laurent was perhaps playing the final matches of his Arsenal career. He started thinking about a possible departure from Arsenal at the same time as Arsene Wenger. It was the right moment, the final moment to leave with the arrival of the new manager.”
Koscielny is expected to return to training in November.
