Arsenal transfer news: Samuel Umtiti, David Neres, Denis Suarez, Nicolo Zaniolo

Umtiti set for summer switch?

Arsenal are in “pole position” to sign Barcelona centre-half Samuel Umtiti.

TalkSPORT reports that Arsenal boss Unai Emery is desperate to beat off competition from any Premier League rival for the seasoned defender, who was an unused sub for Barca in last night’s Champions League thrashing of Manchester United.

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

Gunners gaffer Emery has been tracking the 25-year-old Frenchman for a while and as a result, claims talkSPORT, the north London club are favourites to lure him from the Camp Nou, despite interest from Roma, Bayern Munich and Man Utd.

Apparently Barcelona are so impressed with the form of Clement Lenglet that Umtiti has been told he can leave Camp Nou in the summer.

Neres in Arsenal’s sights

While Manchester United had their minds on Barcelona last night, Arsenal scouts were reportedly in Turin to run the rule over Ajax star David Neres.

According to the Daily Mail the Gunners and United “are set to go head-to-head” to sign the 22-year-old, who has starred for Ajax in their run to the Champions League semi-finals.

The Brazilian has “caught the eye” of Unai Emery this season and the Spaniard is set to make a move for Neres next month.

Everton, Chelsea, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund have all been linked to the young wideman in the past, but it’s believed United and Arsenal are leading the race to land Neres.

Having arrived at Ajax for £13m from Sao Paulo in 2017, Neres made his debut for Brazil recently and it’s claimed that Ajax won’t take a penny under £45m.

Suarez admission

The agent of Denis Suarez has admitted that the midfielder’s loan spell with Arsenal hasn’t gone according to plan. As a result, says the Daily Mirror, a summer switch to Napoli is on the cards.

The Barcelona playmaker arrived at the Emirates in January but he has yet to start a competitive game and it was recently revealed he’s been nursing a groin injury of late.

In conversation with Radio Kiss Kiss, agent Felix Guende confessed that “this year in England hasn’t been his best. He’s played little and hasn’t been able to find a rhythm”.

Explaining the injury, Guende was asked what the future holds for Suarez. “It looks unlikely that Arsenal will make the move permanent this summer,” he replied.

Guende then addressed the Napoli rumours, saying: “The interest is always appreciated, being a team that has been fighting for the top positions for years.

“It’s a bit soon to talk about the transfer window, but we aren’t excluding anything.”

Zaniolo hunt is on

Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport claims that Bayern Munich have joined the hunt for Nicolo Zaniolo.

The Roma midfielder is on Arsenal’s radar but the German giants are planning a major rebuild in the summer and Zaniolo is one of the players they have identified.

Roma are still hopeful of persuading him to sign a new deal but it seems that Bayern, Arsenal and Juventus all have other ideas.

Premier League fixtures

Saturday 20 April (3pm unless stated)

• Manchester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur (12.30, live on Sky Sports)
• AFC Bournemouth vs. Fulham
• Huddersfield Town vs. Watford
• West Ham United vs. Leicester City
• Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
• Newcastle United vs. Southampton (5.30pm, live on BT Sport)

Sunday 21 April

• Everton vs. Manchester United (1.30pm, live on Sky Sports)
• Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace (4pm)
• Cardiff City vs. Liverpool (4pm, live on Sky Sports)

Monday 22 April

• Chelsea vs. Burnley (8pm, live on Sky Sports)