Arsenal are lining up a summer move for Borussia Dortmund centre-back Dan-Axel Zagadou, who could be available for as little as €30m in the upcoming transfer window.
The Gunners are looking to bolster their defensive options for the 2021/22 campaign, having already spent big money on central pairing William Saliba and Gabriel. However, while Gabriel has been a hit this year, Saliba has fallen well short of expectations, subsequently returning to Ligue 1 on loan.
And Duncan Castles explained on the Transfer Window Podcast that Mikel Arteta has identified Dortmund star Zagadou as the man to end Arsenal's issues at the heart of their defence. Initial signs suggest that the player could leave the Bundesliga giants for a cut-price €30m fee.
“Yeah, Zagadou is widely considered to be the best of a very good category of young French defenders. He’s been at Dortmund since 2017, arrived on a free transfer from PSG, one of the many excellent academy products at PSG whose pathway into the first-team has been blocked by Qatar’s spending,” Castles said.
“He’s been pursued by Arsenal and watched by Arsenal as a strong option for some time now.
"They have, I’m told, been active in preparing a deal to bring him from the Bundesliga this summer, quite a lot of work done on that with the idea being that he’s available for €30m, perhaps less.”
Zagadou is set to enter the final year of his current Dortmund contract in the summer, and his transfer value is dropping with each passing month. Der BVB will be all too aware that the 21-year-old could leave for nothing in the future, if he is not sold in the summer transfer window.
Unless Dortmund can convince him to put pen to paper on a new deal, they will be forced to accept a transfer offer lower than his value during the off-season. These circumstances play strongly into Arsenal's hands, who could be set to welcome another promising defender into their ranks.
Source : 90min