Arsenal Remain Keen On Signing Highly Rated Spanish Left-Back

Portuguese news outlet, Correio da Manha claim that Arsenal are expressing serious interest in Benfica fullback, Alex Grimaldo.

The Gunners have been monitoring the 23-year-old for quite a while but are facing competition from a number of top European outfits like Atletico Madrid.

Unai Emery’s biggest priority is improving the defence line in the upcoming summer and finding a replacement for both Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac is necessary. The latter has proved himself to be highly inconsistent on the defensive end, since arriving at the Etihad on a free transfer from FC Schalke while Monreal is about to turn 33 this month.

Grimaldo spent his early days with Valencia but eventually graduated from the highly esteemed La Masia academy of Barcelona. He left for Benfica in December 2015 for just €1.5m and has since gone on to establish himself as a top left-back in the Primera Liga.

He is only 2 games away from making his 100th appearance for the Portuguese outfit, having claimed 9 goals and 14 assists during that period. Grimaldo has also been capped 2 times for the Spain U21 side.

Blessed with remarkable speed and technical skills, the 23-year-old might just be ready to make his way over to the Premier League. Unfortunately, his release clause is reported to be worth £52.5m.

Unai Emery has spent less than that on the 5 players he brought in last summer and will be allotted less than that after this season as well.