Arsenal: Mahrez latest; Barcelona winger for sale; Bacca bid imminent

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Having failed in their bid to prise Jamie Vardy away from Leicester City, Arsenal have recently been linked with another of the Foxes’ star assets. Noises began to emerge that Riyad Mahrez has had his head turned by interest from Arsenal, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain following the departure of N’Golo Kanté to Chelsea. However, The Evening Standard reports that Claudio Ranieri is insistent that Mahrez is going nowhere.

It is interesting that Ranieri has decided to strike such a tone of certainty in his remarks, when he stayed conspicuously silent during the Jamie Vardy to Arsenal saga. There is a sense that the Italian is protesting rather too much, and that his words may be intended to convince himself rather than anybody else. It would be most surprising if Arsene Wenger, who tried to snare Vardy and was lyrical in his praise of Kanté, hadn’t kept at least one eye on Mahrez.

Meanwhile, Arsenal are looking for a wide-attacker and were very much on Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s case before he signed for Manchester United. In light of this, TalkSPORT are reporting that winger Arda Turan could be available for €20m from Catalan giants Barcelona.

Arsenal have shown an interest in Turan in past windows, and the Turkish international struggled to establish himself as a first-team regular at the Nou Camp. It is clear that the player’s agent is trying to engineer a move away from Barcelona, and it is widely known that Arsenal are looking to buy. The club’s main priority, having secured centre back Rob Holding, is to sign a centre forward and links to Turan sound very much like agent-forged tittle tattle.

On the subject of striker, The Express report that AC Milan are hoping that Arsenal make a late bid for Carlos Bacca. The 29-year-old Colombian has been linked with West Ham all summer long, but wants to play in the Champions League. There is little evidence that Arsenal have a strong interest in him, and again this story sounds like an agent’s attempt to prompt West Ham to show a little more haste.

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Alex Hannam