Arsenal have reportedly been offered an opportunity to sign French international Nabil Fekir from Lyon for a bargain fee of just £30 million.
As per a report from the Mirror, Arsenal have been offered a chance to sign former Liverpool transfer target and Olympique Lyon superstar Nabil Fekir in a cut-price £30 million deal.
Fekir, 25, has been with Lyon since 2011 and has gone on to make 193 appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit after breaking into the first-team in 2013, with 69 goals to his name. However, the attacking midfielder has been heavily linked with an exit from the club over the past year or so.
Fekir came very close to completing to a £60 million transfer to Premier League giants Liverpool last summer, but the move fell through at the last minute with the Reds pulling out after the Frenchman’s medical owing to some concerns. And now, Arsenal have been offered an opportunity to land the 25-year-old for half the amount that was offered by Liverpool a year ago.
Arsenal failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the third consecutive season, which has hit them hard in terms of the transfer budget available to spend. The Gunners will be operating on limited funds of £45 million and given their need to strengthen the squad in a number of areas, they will have to offload some of their existing players.
Arsenal manager Unai Emery is eyeing additions to the attacking third of the field and could definitely do with someone of Fekir’s quality and abilities, especially considering the fact that they lost Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck upon the expiry of their contracts.
Moreover, should Arsenal decide to offload the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil in order to reduce the wage bill, the Gunners would lack a creative presence in the final third, which Fekir could potentially fill, while his abilities to slot in as a striker would come in very handy as well.
Fekir is contracted with Lyon till the summer of 2020 and they are likely to want to cash in on their captain, with former manager Bruno Genesio admitting that the Frenchman appears to be unsettled at the club.
Genesio told French radio station RMC (h/t Mirror), “Nabil is coming to the end of a cycle in Lyon. He has experienced a lot of things here. I think that he needs a new challenge, to push his limits, and to be self-critical. Because we know, we always need a personal challenge in a career, and to ask questions of ourselves.”
The Lyon captain has come up with a combined tally of 35 goals and 17 assists in the past two seasons and at the price of just £30 million, would be an excellent addition to this Arsenal side. But, it remains to be seen if they press ahead with the pursuit of the 21-time capped French international or pursue alternate targets, with Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha on their radar.
