Arsenal are reportedly keen on signing Ibrahima Konate this summer.
According to The Standard, Edu and Mikel Arteta are interested in bringing the 21-year-old to the Emirates Stadium.
Problem is, Konate is valued at around £45 million by Red Bull Leipzig and Arsenal might have to get creative if they’re going to make something work.
And Edu might well be tempted to use Konstantinos Mavropanos as a makeweight to lower the fee.
If we’re honest, Mavropanos probably has no future at Arsenal, but that isn’t to say that he’s a bad player.
The 23-year-old – who is a centre-back, like Konate – has been dazzling on loan with Stuttgart in the Bundesliga this season and Leipzig would be a lot more receptive toward a sale if they knew that they were getting a fee and a potential replacement in the same deal – a replacement proven in their division, too.
And if the big Greek powerhouse had a future under Arteta in North London, he probably wouldn’t have been loaned out in the first place.
Leipzig have already sold Dayot Upamecano to Bayern Munich and if they’re going to offload their second-best central defender now too, getting a player in return makes sense.
Arsenal will in all probability miss out on the Champions League next season, which also means missing out on the financial spoils of qualifying for Europe’s elite competition.
In other words, money might be tight but if they’re serious about Konate, using Mavropanos to reduce the asking price might be a smart move.
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