Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are reportedly all interested in Boubakary Soumare, who is likely to be sold this month by Ligue 1 club Lille.
Sky Sports have revealed that Boubakary Soumare could be available in the January transfer window. Lille are reportedly willing to sell the French midfielder, which has piqued the interest of a host of clubs, including Premier League trio Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.
The report further names Real Madrid and Valencia as other potential suitors for Soumare, who was signed by Lille on a free transfer from French giants Paris Saint-Germain. 21-year-old Soumare has been one of the mainstays in Lille’s starting eleven in the 2019-20 campaign, playing 17 of the club’s 19 Ligue 1 matches and all of their Champions League games.
Soumare is lauded for his passing ability and his poise in midfield. The 20-year-old’s ability to provide stability in the middle of the park is something the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United would all love add to their first-team setup.
Arsenal have Matteo Guendouzi, Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira among quality midfielders at Mikel Arteta’s disposal. But, the defence still lacks cover from the midfield, which is why the former player would love to add a holding midfielder like Soumare to his options.
Chelsea have several options in midfield, but are on the lookout of improving their depth apart from replacing the deadwood, so to say, within the first-team setup. Frank Lampard has had enough time to gauge which players are not in his plans and it is likely the club is to look towards moving those players on and replace them with ones that fit Lampard’s vision.
For Manchester United, midfield reinforcements are the need of the hour. Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba are sidelined with their respective injuries and lack of other quality options have seen Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team being linked with several midfielders, with Soumare added to the list.
With Lille looking to sell Soumare in January, interest from so many clubs has the prospect of creating an auction situation, which would only benefit the Ligue 1 and allow them to net more revenue from the 20-year-old’s sale.