Arsenal are mulling over the possibility of making a late move for Besiktas defender Domagoj Vida, with the English transfer deadline looming large.
According to reports from the Evening Standard, Premier League giants Arsenal are pondering over a late £26.9 million offer for 29-year old Croatian centre-half Domagoj Vida.
The Gunners have had a fairly eventful transfer window, under their new manager Unai Emery. So far this summer, the North London outfit have spent over £70 million over five new faces, that also include defensive reinforcements in the form of Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Stephan Lichtsteiner.
However, the former Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla boss remains intent on adding another body to his backline before the transfer window shuts on Thursday evening. This is largely owing to the fact that veteran defender Laurent Koscielny remains sidelined with an injury and is unlikely to return to action till the turn of the year.
Add to that, the club loaned out Calum Chambers to Fulham for the season. That leaves Arsenal with Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi as the senior-most defenders, with the inexperienced Rob Holding and Konstantinos Mavropanos as backups. To address that, the manager is hoping to bring in Vida to the Emirates before the transfer window.
The 29-year old Croatian international joined Besiktas only six months ago on a free transfer, from Ukrainian outfit Dynamo Kyiv and has made just 18 appearances till date. Vida still has four years left on his contract with the Turkish giants.
The centre-half impressed heavily with some solid displays in the summer’s 2018 FIFA World Cup for Croatia, playing an important role in their run to the finals of the tournament. Vida featured in all but one game in the quadrennial extravaganza, chipping in with a goal and an assist as well.
This led to a lot of interest in the 65-time capped Croatian international, with the likes of Barcelona and Liverpool also reported to be keeping tabs on the player. And the Gunners face a race against time to complete the £26.9 million transfer, given the English transfer window is set to close in a matter of hours.
To balance the books, Arsenal are hoping to offload some of the fringe players in the squad, with goalkeeper David Ospina expected to seal a move to Besiktas, while Danny Welbeck is also understood to be headed for the exit doors. The North Londoners have already let Lucas Perez join West Ham United in a £4 million deal.
With so little time left in the window, a last-gasp deal for Vida does seem unlikely. However, stranger things have happened in the transfer market.
