Sources: Arsenal put €45m wonderkid on their list of transfer targets | OneFootball

Arsenal are understood to be considering a transfer move for AC Milan’s highly-rated young left-back Davide Bartesaghi.

As first reported in my Daily Briefing exclusive here, the Gunners are alongside Manchester City and Real Madrid in monitoring the talented 19-year-old, who is valued at around €45m.

Bartesaghi has become a first-team regular for Milan this season, impressing with 2 goals in 13 games in all competitions so far.

Arsenal are understood to be big admirers of Bartesaghi as Mikel Arteta continues to keep an eye on possible left-back targets, including Eintracht Frankfurt’s Nathaniel Brown.

Sources on Arsenal’s interest in Davide Bartesaghi

One well-connected source with links to the agents industry told me: “Arsenal have put Davide Bartesaghi on their January shortlist. But Milan value him at around €45m, and a deal in the middle of the season doesn’t currently look realistic.”

Davide Bartesaghi celebrates a goal for AC Milan (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

This will most likely be a long-term target for Arsenal, and it will be interesting to see if they can get there ahead of other big names.

Multiple sources also mentioned Man City and Real Madrid, and it’s expected that the list of clubs monitoring Bartesaghi will only keep on growing in the months ahead.

Do Arsenal need Davide Bartesaghi and could his signing lead to an exit?

One other story that’s caught my eye during this interest in Bartesaghi and Brown is the on linking Piero Hincapie with Barcelona.

The Ecuador international only joined Arsenal on loan from Bayer Leverkusen this season, and the expectation has always been that this deal would end up being made permanent.

Given that Hincapie can play at left-back, it could make sense for AFC to be weighing up replacing him with either one of Bartesaghi or Brown.

However, I can’t currently confirm any interest from Barca, nor have I heard anything about Arsenal being anything other than very happy with how Hincapie has settled, and what he could contribute in the long term.