Arsenal round-up: Mbappe discusses career aims; Manchester City retain interest in Alexis Sanchez; Porto’s Yacine Brahimi linked

Add as preferred source on Google

Kylian Mbappe has emerged as a priority target for Arsenal this summer with the Gunners having a £87 million bid rejected for the Frenchman. The player himself has been discussing his career aims and they suggest that a move to the Emirates Stadium is unlikely to appeal to him. The Evening Standard are reporting the following quotes, which they have translated from the teenager’s interview with Telefoot:

“[The Champions League] is a dream, a competition that everyone wants to win and that only a minority can win – the most important are the titles,”

“That would be much more of an obsession for me than the Ballon d’Or, for example. I want to touch the stars and, when you dream, you do not dream of playing the middle of the table or maintaining it.”

Although Arsenal are a huge club, they haven’t been a realistic contender for the Champions League in a long time. Their pursuit of Mbappe was always going to be a long shot, but these quotes suggest that they are now out of the running. The Gunners can’t afford to lose too much time in this window chasing a lost cause and it may be the right time to move on to more realistic targets.

Sky Sports report that Alexis Sanchez remains a key Manchester City target, but Pep Guardiola has yet to make an official approach to Arsenal. A new contract has yet to be agreed with the Chilean, who has left his future in the hands of his agent. City and Bayern Munich are both waiting for the end of the international break to find out the forward’s plans.

This is going to run and run until the final weeks of the window. Arsenal will be reluctant sellers and they will want to get every penny that they can for their star man. There are benefits of selling quickly, but it is unlikely that the Gunners will opt for this, as it would portray a weak message and give them an image of desperation as they search for a replacement. As things stand City looks to be his most likely destination, but it won’t be completed soon.

Finally, a player that Arsenal may look to bring in to help replace Sanchez is Yacine Brahimi. Correio da Manha report that the Gunners have shown the most interest in the Algerian international. However, it may take a fee of €40 million to convince FC Porto to sell the tricky winger. The advantage that buying clubs will have in negotiations is that the Portuguese club need to sell players to avoid punishments from UEFA, which leaves them in a weaker position.

At the age of 27, Brahimi would be viewed as a signing for now, as opposed to one for the future, but that is what Arsenal need. They will want to challenge at the top of the Premier League and they will need experienced players to do that. In 22 Liga NOS matches, the Algerian contributed six goals and three assists, which isn’t a bad return. That said, it isn’t the output expected of a €40 million player. The Porto attacker is exciting to watch on his day, but his lack of consistency is a problem. Arsenal should avoid him.