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Football London
Football London
Sport
Aaron Catterson-Reid

Mikel Arteta meets with Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke amid Alexander Isak transfer pursuit

Mikel Arteta has been spotted in America alongside Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke as the January transfer deadline begins to loom.

The Gunners are yet to sign any first-team players this month, despite failing to record a single victory since the turn of the year.

Arteta is keen to bring in a long-term replacement for out-of-favour striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and football.london understands that the club are open to offers for the exiled captain.

The Spaniard's top target had been Fiorentina star Dusan Vlahovic but as football.london reported earlier this month, the Serbian international has told close friends that he would prefer to stay in Serie A and reports from Italy have claimed that Juventus are ramping up their efforts to sign the clinical centre-forward.

Now, the former Manchester City assistant coach has been spotted in America, attending a Colorado Avalanche match, the NHL team that Kroenke owns.

It is inevitable that the pair will be discussing potential transfers ahead of next week's deadline, with alternatives to Vlahovic potentially debated.

Arsenal are exploring options including Real Sociedad star Alexander Isak and Lille centre-forward Jonathan David.

The former extended his contract with Sociedad towards the tail end of last year in the knowledge that a big-money move to a top club in Europe was likely to happen in the coming months.

Isak has a €90million (£75.4million) release clause in his contract, although the Gunners are expected to negotiate that fee.

"My clause? We, the players, don't take too much care of that, it's more on the side of the clubs. We play and the clubs negotiate with each other,” the Swedish international said back in November.

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