Arsenal Join Liverpool & Man City in Pursuit of Sevilla's Diego Carlos

Arsenal are the latest side to have expressed an interest in signing Sevilla centre-back Diego Carlos this summer.


Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has previously confessed that he may be forced to look for a new defender this summer, with Shkodran Mustafi's injury expected to keep him out of the start of next season.


Mikel Arteta is looking for defensive reinforcements

Up until this point, Arsenal's transfer plans had been up in the air as the club had no idea what the future held. An eight-placed finish in the Premier League left them out of the Europa League, but winning the FA Cup has earned them a spot in Europe once again.


The Telegraph state that Arsenal's focus has now turned to preparing for the future. The newly found clarity over their situation has helped club officials work out how much money is there to be spent, and Arteta could use some of that money on Carlos.


There are also doubts around the futures of Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Rob Holding - who have both been tipped to be sold this summer - and bringing in someone like Carlos would go a long way to replacing either.


Carlos helped Sevilla to the second-best defensive record in La Liga

The 27-year-old has been linked with moves to Manchester City and Liverpool already, with Pep Guardiola's side expected to be in the driver's seat as they are prepared to pay his £68m release clause.


Sevilla are expected to accept slightly less than that figure, with a fee of £54.5m suggested, but even that could be too high for Arsenal unless they can find a way to raise money through player sales.


Sokratis and Mattéo Guendouzi are both expected to be sold to free up some money, but a large part of Arsenal's business will be decided by the future of Mesut Özil, whose £350,000-a-week contract has left Arteta's hands tied.


A loan is seen as the best solution to offload a sizeable chunk of Özil's wages next season, but finding a team willing to pay close to 50% of his salary still seems like a tough ask in a financial market which has been paralysed by the coronavirus outbreak.


If money remains hard to come by, a move for French centre-back Malang Sarr is on the cards. The 21-year-old is without a club after leaving Nice and is thought to have already been contacted by the Gunners.



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Source : 90min