Arteta ‘pays’ £34m to ‘snatch’ a ‘fundamental’ signing from Barcelona, Real Madrid

Arsenal are ready to beat Barcelona and Real Madrid to the signing of Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich this summer, according to reports.

The Gunners have made one permanent transfer so far this summer with David Raya joining from Brentford after spending last season on loan at the Emirates Stadium.

But Mikel Arteta is about to seal their second signing with widespread reports indicating that Bologna centre-back Riccardo Calafiori will complete his medical and sign for Arsenal at some point this week.

And now Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and Edu are looking to land a new midfielder with Real Sociedad duo Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi both linked heavily over the summer.

But reports in Spain now claim that Bayern Munich star Kimmich is the midfielder who they are closing in on with Arteta ‘paying’ €40m (£34m) to ‘snatch’ him away from rivals for his signature in the form of Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Arsenal’s interest in Kimmich has put the two La Liga giants ‘in trouble’ as it will be ‘very difficult’ for Real Madrid and Barcelona to compete economically with the Premier League side.

Kimmich is on the ‘agenda’ of both La Liga sides but Arsenal ‘have entered the bidding with great force’ and Arteta has ‘expressly requested his signing to reinforce’ his squad ahead of the new season.

The Bayern Munich midfielder’s ‘priority is to find a way out’ of the Bavarian club this summer with the Germany international having one year left on his contract at the Allianz Arena.

And Bayern Munich, for their part, ‘prefer to cash in on him than to have him leave for free in the next transfer window’ and Arsenal are ‘willing to put on the table’ their €40m asking price.

Arteta sees Kimmich as a ‘fundamental’ signing and a ‘necessary piece in his team’ in an effort to finally win the Premier League title after coming close again last season.

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Sport Bild journalist Christian Falk has his own update on Kimmich and Bayern Munich team-mate Alphonso Davies with both players likely to leave this summer.

Falk wrote in his Caught Offside column: “In the cases of Alphonso Davies and Joshua Kimmich it’s very difficult for Bayern Munich. They aren’t in a good position in both cases because there’s just one year left in their contracts and then they’re on the market as free agents.

“I’ve previously mentioned that Davies agent did come to Munich to discuss signing a new contract but then Eberl didn’t get the go-ahead from the supervisory board. This made the agent very angry when he was forced to return empty-handed to Canada.

“Their point is they won’t sign a new contract with the current conditions. Bayern are looking at the situation with rose-tinted glasses and are thinking that because they got the player so cheaply from Canada, so it’s not so bad if they allow him to run down his contract and use the last year.

“They’ve got the same idea for Kimmich who they also signed on the cheap. They will, of course, lose a lot of income in terms of potential transfer fees but in the books, they can argue they didn’t lose a lot of money bringing the pair in.

“There are no talks with Kimmich yet. Bayern Munich aren’t very confident with the situation he had in the last years with his sporting activities on the pitch. He’s earning €15m (plus €5m), which Bayern feel is too much given what he’s currently showing in his performance levels.

“If they give him a new contract, they only want to give Kimmich half of that, which of course isn’t the view shared by the player. He knows he can go for free to Barcelona in 2025, for example.

“Hansi Flick has already given him a sign that they would take him immediately, so at the moment, it seems Kimmich and Davies could be off next summer.”