Arsenal could earn some compensation for Eddie Nketiah, even if he leaves the club on a free transfer in the summer.
Nketiah is out of contract with the Gunners on July 1 and has so far resisted the club’s attempts to get him to sign a new deal.
The 22-year-old striker has been the subject of interest from rival Premier League sides, as well as Bayer Leverkusen in Germany.
Crystal Palace attempted to sign Nketiah in the summer and have continued their pursuit in the January transfer window amid his contract stand-off.
According to Sky Sports, Arsenal turned down a second offer from Palace for Nketiah on Saturday, with Mikel Arteta wanting to keep hold of him.
Nketiah has not started a Premier League game for Arsenal this season, but with doubts over the futures of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette and a new striker yet to arrive this month, the club don’t want to lose him.
Should Arsenal deny his exit this month, Nketiah would be free to leave the club on a free transfer when his contract expires.
However, in that eventuality the Gunners would still pocket some money, provided he moves to an English club, because he is under 24 and was developed in their academy.
As football.london points out, the amount would be up to the two clubs to decide on, but previous cases have ended up at an independent tribunal when no agreement could be found.
Arsenal obviously do not want it to come to that, with Arteta still hoping he can convince Nketiah to sign a contract extension.
"I've already spoken about Eddie, how I feel about him, the intentions of the club,” he said earlier in January.
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“He's with us and every day he shows me that he wants to stay with us."
However, that eventuality appears unlikely, with Crystal Palace pushing hard to sign the young striker, amid further interest from Newcastle.
Nketiah has contributed 18 goals and one assist in 75 appearances for Arsenal altogether, but he has played just 10 times this season.
Arteta has used him frequently off the substitutes’ bench, with all of his starts coming in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
"We had a situation in the summer that we tried to resolve and we couldn't either way,” Arteta explained in October.
"That is the contract situation that is more and more common in football for where we are coming from with Covid and a lot of issues that we have to resolve.
"I have full belief that he is going to be a top, top player and hopefully at Arsenal. I am happy to have him, he is our player, I regard him really highly and from my side I want him to stay."
