Chelsea owner Todd Boehly is looking to hand Arsenal a devastating blow in the race to secure the future of Bukayo Saka. The 21-year-old has been thinly linked with an exit from the Emirates Stadium recently as he enters the final two years of his deal in north London.
According to CBS journalist Ben Jacobs on The Football Terrace, the Blues are willing to offer Saka a better contract than the one he's set to sign with the Gunners. The report states that the Hale End graduate is expected to sign a £200,000-per-week contract with the north Londoners.
But, Boehly is keen to intercept talks and bring the England international to Stamford Bridge. However, it's said that Arsenal view Saka as ‘untouchable’ so Chelsea could struggle to engineer a deal.
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Liverpool and Manchester City are also both keeping tabs on the winger's situation, according to The Times. If the Blues can win the race for Saka, it will follow the arrival of Omari Hutchinson who left Arsenal for Chelsea in the summer as Boehly looks to lay foundations to a bright future at the club.
The former Gunners starlet was one of five teenagers to arrive at Cobham in the summer - alongside Carney Chukwuemeka, Zak Sturge, Gabriel Slonina and Cesare Casadei. Despite the worry that Saka could follow Hutchinson to west London, Mikel Arteta is 'very confident' that his talisman will agree a new deal.
But, the Arsenal boss wants a new contract wrapped up as soon as possible so that he doesn't get 'distracted'. Speaking in August, Arteta said: "I am very confident that we as a club and Bukayo and his family and agent are all aligned and now it’s about putting that on a piece of paper. I would like that to get done because I don’t want players to be distracted in the season. But those things take time."
Saka, who is valued at £86.4million by CIES Football Observatory, has featured 10 times for Arsenal in the Premier League this season, directly contributing towards eight goals. His impressive displays have steered the Gunners to the top of the table as he grows into one of Europe's most exciting wide-men.
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