Arsenal hijack Man Utd move for £62m Bundesliga star as Arteta chooses ‘ideal upgrade’ | OneFootball

Arsenal are now leading Premier League rivals Man Utd the race to sign Borussia Dortmund forward Karim Adeyemi, according to reports.

The Gunners invested heavily over the summer with eight new players brought to the Emirates Stadium at a cost of over £250m.

Arsenal now have two good players in most positions with their squad depth now up there with the best in the Premier League.

However, the Gunners are still looking to strengthen their squad even further with rumours on Friday that they could add yet another central midfielder to their ranks.

And now our friends at TEAMtalk insist that Arsenal may sign a new attacker in the January transfer window with Adeyemi at Dortmund in their sights.

Adeyemi has been in and out of the Dortmund team since moving to Germany from RB Salzburg in 2022 with the 23-year-old often played as a right winger, centre forward or as an attacking midfielder.

The Germany international caused a stir in recent weeks when he threw a drinks bottle at the dugout when he was substituted by Niko Kovac in a recent 1-0 win over Cologne.

Addressing the incident, Kovac told reporters: “I think that’s unnecessary. It’s okay that he can be angry sometimes, but that’s unnecessary, he’s an adult.”

A report in German newspaper Bild claimed earlier this week that the relationship between player and coach is ‘strained’ and that Man Utd had ‘entered the fray’ to attempt to take advantage of the situation.

It is claimed that Jorge Mendes’ appointment as the German’s new agent ‘adds further urgency to the situation’ with the Bundesliga side ‘aware that if Manchester United shows serious interest, Adeyemi’s future in Dortmund could become an issue sooner than many would like’.

MORE ARSENAL COVERAGE ON F365… 👉 Arsenal star ‘would start for Liverpool’ for two reasons as he’s told to ‘ask’ Arteta for January transfer 👉 Tuchel dishes out ‘brutal ultimatum’ to Arsenal star as ‘next Bukayo Saka’ sparks transfer scramble 👉 Arsenal ‘will look at selling’ Myles Lewis-Skelly on one condition as major clubs circle

And now TEAMtalk claim that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta sees Adeyemi as the ‘ideal right-wing upgrade’ for Reiss Nelson as he looks for further goals and assists from attacking areas.

It is understood that Dortmund will not accept less than £62m in January for Adeyemi, while the website insists that interest from Man Utd ‘remains fierce’ – but the forward’s ‘preferred destination’ is a move to London over Manchester.

Arsenal’s transfer success rate was good over the summer with the signing of Martin Zubimendi hailed by former Gunners defender Philippe Senderos as the best of the summer.

Senderos told AceOdds.com: “All of the new players have had an impact, but Zubimendi is the one for me who has had the most impact. He has really helped to balance the midfield and the squad. He has allowed Declan Rice to have a bit more freedom to make his runs, and that is what Declan Rice likes to do.

“He doesn`t like to sit down and Zubimendi is that type of player. He has aggression and can move the ball very intelligently as well. He has been a fantastic signing for Arsenal and has added a lot to the squad.

“You need a big squad if you want to compete and Eze will definitely have more highlights and top moments this season. The injury of Martin Odegaard was definitely not helping him and Arsenal, because we know the importance of Odegaard. He triggers the press and the forward movements, but Eze has done a good job finding space and we will see more from him.

“I think Gyokeres` movement has been impressive. He will continue to make those runs and move like this. It is not easy to be a number nine at Arsenal because it comes with a lot of responsibility, but we will see many goals from him. He will get the service, but of course it takes time to adapt to the Premier League. He will still have to find his feet, but we have seen some important goals already and it looks like he fits very well with the rest of the squad.”