Arsenal are lining up Youssouf Fofana as an alternative to Declan Rice after West Ham rejected three bids for the England international.
Rice is the Gunners' top target for the summer transfer window after captaining the Hammers to winning the Europa Conference League. But West Ham are demanding a fee in the region of £100million, with Arsenal struggling to negotiate them down from that valuation.
So far they have been unsuccessful and now appear to be exploring alternative options to the 24-year-old. One of them is Fofana, who has impressed for Monaco and was included in France's World Cup squad last winter.
According to L'Equipe, the Gunners are battling Newcastle and, curiously, West Ham for the midfielder. The Hammers have a long-standing interest in the 24-year-old but Arsenal have now joined the race.
The French international will be allowed to leave the Stade Louis II this summer, should a 'reasonable offer' be submitted. Arsenal and Newcastle have both now registered an interest in Fofana.
But with Monaco holding the option of extending his contract by a further year, the Ligue 1 side are in no hurry to sell. No concrete bid has yet been submitted for Fofana, who is also receiving interest from Inter Milan and Roma.
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Fofana made 47 appearances in all competitions in the season just gone, starting all but three games in Ligue 1 as they finished sixth, missing out on European qualification. In the aftermath of that disappointment, the Frenchman has admitted he is looking to leave.
“Monaco is a great club in France and Europe. A lot of big clubs come here to find players and we are all aware of this. If it is the right opportunity or moment [to leave], I can’t say," he said earlier this month.
"I don’t know but we are doing things the right way here at the moment. I have already played with top players but if one day I can play with more big names then it will be a pleasure and mean I have performed well.”
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has declined to discuss his side's summer transfer business. But the Spaniard has urged club bosses to invest this summer as they look to challenge for the Premier League title.
"I can’t talk about players who are not at the club. I prefer not to say anything. We have already regenerated the squad, with a very young average that will generate performance and value," he told Marca.
"We have owners who are aligned with us: to build a winning team that can be sustained over time, without too much investment. But the demands are increasing and we have to go to the market to find what we don’t have to keep improving."
