Arsenal are ready to make an offer for AC Milan star Ismael Bennacer, according to Italian outlet Calciomercato.
The Gunners have already signed four players in the summer transfer window, splashing in excess of £75million to bring in Gabriel Jesus, Marquinhos, Matt Turner and Fabio Vieira. However, technical director Edu is far from finished, with the Brazilian transfer chief keen to further bolster Mikel Arteta's young squad.
Arteta's side are short of options in the middle of the park and Leicester City's Youri Tielemans has been heavily linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium. football.london reported earlier this year that the Belgian international's agent had a meeting with Edu at the club's London Colney training ground, with Arsenal certainly interested in the player.
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football.london also understands that the Gunners have been holding off on finalising a deal but reports of other teams being interested in acquiring his services could change the north London club's stance and now we've taken a closer look at the two main components of his game that will have impressed manager Arteta. Now, the aforementioned report from Italy claims that Milan maestro Bennacer could be a target for Arsenal.
The Algerian international previously plied his trade for the north Londoners before eventually leaving in 2017 in search of guaranteed first-team minutes. He has since established himself as one of Serie A's most consistent midfielders, registering 5.97 progressive passes, 2.65 interceptions and 3.32 tackles per 90 minutes last season, as per fbref.
Bennacer has since spoken out about his time at the Premier League giants, admitting that the 'crazy' pressure was difficult to deal with. Speaking to Goal in 2020, he said: “I felt crazy pressure on me. I lost a few balls, but I also recovered fewer. After that I didn’t play anymore, but I have no regrets: I trained with important players like Özil and Cazorla."
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