Arsenal transfer news: Gunners eye Jean Seri and Kalidou Koulibaly

French sports daily L’Equipe reports that Arsenal are ahead of Manchester United and Liverpool in the race to sign Nice midfielder Jean Seri.

Apparently the Gunners’ head of football relations, Raul Sanllehi, has a good working relationship with Seri’s agent and that has tilted the balance of purchasing power in their favour.

The Ivory Coast international playmaker has been a standout performer for Nice in recent seasons, and that’s led to the interest from the three Premier League clubs.

Subscribe to 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

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

But it seems the Gunners are confident they will be able to successfully trigger Seri’s £35m release clause and bring him to the Emirates, perhaps in place of Granit Xhaka. The Swiss midfielder has put in a string of underwhelming performances this season and is tipped to be shown the exit when the new manager arrives in the summer.

Ospina wanted by Boca Juniors

Meanwhile The Sun says that David Ospina is “wanted by Argentine giants Boca Juniors”. The 29-year-old goalkeeper has been a bit-part player at the Emirates for a number of seasons and has been linked with a move away for a number of months.

The departure of Arsene Wenger has thrown his future into greater uncertainty and it seems that he could decide to make a clean break of it and return to his native South America over the summer.

“There has always been talk about me joining Boca Juniors,” said the Colombian in conversation with broadcaster Antena. “I am enjoying life at Arsenal for the time being. But Boca are one of the biggest clubs, not only in South America but in the world, and you always keep the door open to the possibility of joining a club like that.”

Koulibaly is a ‘priority’ signing for the Gunners

Finally, the Daily Mirror comes up with a new name in Arsenal’s hunt for a quality defender ahead of next season and it’s none other than Kalidou Koulibaly.

The 26-year-old Senegal blocker has long been linked with a move to Chelsea but apparently he is a “priority” for Arsenal, who believe his muscular approach is just what their notoriously fragile defence requires.

He could cost the Gunners as much as £50m, says the Mirror, but more to the point, would the Napoli star want to join a club that won’t be in the Champions League next season?