According to The Metro, Arsenal are tracking Espanyol defender Mario Hermoso as the Gunners boss Unai Emery is keen on defensive reinforcements ahead of next season.
Hermoso has well over 30 appearances for the La Liga club this past season, and he is an integral part of the team that finished seventh on the table and look set to achieve Europa League qualification.
Arsenal are in dire need of a new man at the heart of the defence with Shkodran Mustafi’s underperforming and with Laurent Koscielny having one or two more seasons left at the top level, and Spanish outlet Sport claim the Gunners want Hermoso.
Arsenal, however, are not alone in the race for Hermoso’s signature with reports from The Metro also mentioning the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich as being in the race for the €20 million-rated Spaniard.
The issue in signing Hermoso lies with whether or not Real Madrid would be interested in the player as they inserted a buy-back clause in his contract when they sanctioned his sale back in the summer of 2017 on a three-year deal.
According to the Metro’s report, Los Blancos can bring the Spain international back to Santiago Bernabeu for just £6 million.
As interest in the 23-year-old keeps hotting up, Real Madrid could be tempted to buying him back only to sell him on at a profit to the highest bidder.
Should that happen, Arsenal could find themselves beaten to the signing of the player either by Bayern or PSG with the club having around £75m to spend even if Emery does manage to secure Champions League qualification for next season by beating Chelsea in the Europa League final.
The club, according to reports, wants at least three signings this summer and the Spaniard has reportedly demanded the addition of a new centre-back as one of the signings he wants the club to make.
