“He’s a very stubborn player” – Pep Guardiola revealed it’s very difficult for him to stop £59m player from joining Arsenal this week

Fabrizio Romano provided an update on Arsenal’s reported pursuit of Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte. The Gunners were previously linked with making a move for Laporte. Jurrien Timber’s suffering an ACL injury during the pre-season has further fueled those rumors.

Romano, however, said that City are reluctant to sell another player to Mikel Arteta’s side. They let Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus join the Gunners last season, and both players became key parts of Arteta’s team.

Speaking about the north London club’s pursuit of Laporte, Romano wrote for CaughtOffside:

“One player they appreciate is Aymeric Laporte – the rumours are true in the sense that he is liked by Arsenal, but the problem is Manchester City don’t want to sell another player to Arsenal, they prefer another destination for him.”

Romano added that whether Arteta will like to buy a central defender or a full-back after Timber’s injury is unclear.

He wrote:

“Internal discussions will take place on that, with Mikel Arteta involved.”

from Football Audit
via i9bet