Arsenal Are Serious On Fighting Manchester United For £52.5m Defender

Portuguese sports publication, A Bola claims to have seen an Arsenal scout at Benfica’s 10-win over Nacional on the weekend.

The Gunners did get linked with Aguias defender, Alex Grimaldo but it looks like they are really serious about signing him next summer. Unai Emery has made signing a full-back his priority for the upcoming transfer window since Nacho Monreal is due to turn 33 this month.

However, chances of the Gunners signing the 23-year-old were casually flicked off when the player’s release clause was revealed. With a contract till the summer of 2021, Grimaldo is worth £52.5m to the Portuguese outfit.

Since Arsenal’s transfer budget for the 2019 summer is thought to be lower than that, it would seem fruitless for the North London to pursue such a high profile target, especially with Atletico Madrid and Manchester United breathing down their necks.

Grimaldo is a product of the Barcelona academy and he left the La Liga champions for Benfica in December 2015 for just €1.5m.

He looked impressive during Benfica’s thrashing of Nacional by 10 goals to 1. The left-back has been capped 2 times for the Spain U21 side and is close to making 100 appearances in the Primera Liga.

He could be quality addition into this Arsenal side but Unai Emery might have to pay more serious attention to the centre-back post.

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