Arsenal could change their summer window plans following a major claim made by a club president on one of their transfer targets. Celta Vigo's Gabri Veiga has attracted significant attention after enjoying an excellent few months in La Liga where he has scored nine goals from 25 appearances.
Central midfield is the priority position that Mikel Arteta and Edu will be hoping to fill in the summer window and West Ham Captain Declan Rice is the main target, football.london understands. Leicester's Youri Tielemans looked destined to make the move to north London upon the expiration of his contract at the Foxes, but that no longer appears to be the case.
While Rice has been highlighted as the priority, a move for Veiga could help secure the long-term future of the Arsenal midfield. The 20-year-old has mostly been deployed as a central midfielder as part of a two-man partnership, often being the one to push into attack, a very similar action to what Granit Xhaka has been doing this season, but in a three-man midfield.
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Complimented by the versatility of Oleksandr Zinchenko to play the inverted role, Xhaka has been able to drift forward and impact the opposition goal. The Switzerland international has scored six goals from 38 appearances, but at 30, his long-term future at the club is up for debate.
Fabio Vieira was signed last summer from Porto in the hopes of him eventually filling that role, but minus positive cameos he has struggled to make a lasting impact. Veiga could now prove to be the perfect heir for Xhaka with a €40million (£35m) release clause set in his contract that could tempt Edu into signing the Spaniard.
Celta Vigo president Carlos Mourino has now delivered a huge update on Veiga's future, confirming he is likely to depart soon. “We do not want to sell Gabri Veiga but he will be bought from us," he told Mundo Deportivo. "We cannot do anything. We know some of their offers and it is impossible to get there. Gabri is a Celta player, he has that feeling.
“There are several teams behind Gabri. Real Madrid? They haven’t asked us, we don’t know if they will have called the player. For us, and to make it clear, he is not for sale. We have nothing to negotiate with anyone. We refer to the clause. From the top 10 in the Premier League, four have asked about him. The decision is Gabri’s, he will play wherever he wants."
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