Arsenal and Tottenham have seen their hopes of signing Aymeric Laporte this summer increase after Manchester City made a transfer decision of their own. The Spanish defender had been linked with a move to Spurs before a new report emerged that the Gunners were interested in signing him and were thus eyeing a huge transfer hijack of their north London rivals.
New Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has already sanctioned four arrivals with Guglielmo Vicario and James Maddison signing long-term deals, while the loan spells of Dejan Kulusevski and Pedro Porro have also been made permanent. Manor Solomon also looks set to become the fifth signing after Spurs reached a verbal agreement to sign him on a free transfer over the weekend.
Meanwhile, at Emirates Stadium, Kai Havertz's £65million move from Chelsea has already been confirmed while Arsenal are hoping to finalise deals for Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber this week. The Gunners have even dropped a hint over when the announcements could be by blocking off July 3 and 8 for stadium tours due to 'club activity'.
With both teams first focusing on other departments, a central defensive acquisition is definitely needed at Spurs while a marquee signing at the back for Mikel Arteta could be a smart decision given how their season went off the rails following William Saliba's injury.
The initial report from Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo only states that the Gunners have shown a slight interest in the 27-year-old, however the decision would seemingly be a simple one for Laporte after he worked with Arteta at Etihad Stadium.
Discussing his relationship with the Arsenal boss in 2020, Laporte said: "Mikel is a great coach and, for me, he has been one of the best people I have met in Manchester. He tries to help players all the time, he had a really good relationship with everyone and with me especially."
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Laporte's chances of leaving Man City appeared strong given he has fallen significantly down in the pecking order, but if he does stay to fight for his place, he could now find himself even lower in Pep Guardiola's thoughts. According to The Times, Man City have stepped up talks with RB Leipzig to sign Josko Gvardiol and now an £86million deal, not including bonuses, is close to being agreed.
Leipzig's Sporting Director Max Eberl also commented on the deal saying, “Gvardiol and his agents gave us their desire to move to Manchester City. We are in talks with City."
The 21-year-old would slot perfectly into the Man City defence and likely compete with Nathan Ake for the furthest left spot in defence. His arrival would almost certainly leave Laporte further in the wind which is why an imminent summer departure would make complete sense.
Spurs are currently pursuing Edmond Tapsoba and Micky van de Ven as their defensive options, while the Gunners' focus is firmly on completing the transfers of Rice and Timber. However, both could eventually turn their attention onto Laporte who may want to stay in the Premier League.
Working once again with Arteta alongside Champions League football could certainly be attractive to the former Athletic Bilbao man, whereas the guarantee of minutes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after playing just 993 in the league last season could be a key factor in his decision.
