Crystal Palace chasing Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah
By Tom Gott
Crystal Palace have enquired about Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah and would be willing to pay £10m to bring the 22-year-old to Selhurst Park.
Nketiah has entered the final year of his contract and is understood to be considering all his options, having yet to see any real suggestions that he will be given more of a role under Mikel Arteta in the future.
As noted by The Athletic's David Ornstein, Arsenal have tried to tie Nketiah down to a new contract, but he has turned them down - leaving an exit in the coming days looking increasingly likely.
Exploratory talks were held with Brighton as part of the deal to bring Ben White to the Emirates, but those negotiations went nowhere and it is now Palace who have shown the greatest interest in landing Nketiah.
Palace boss Patrick Vieira is ready to pay £10m to bring Nketiah in - as is an unnamed team from Germany - but Arsenal are reluctant to do business at that price and are holding out for somewhere closer to £20m.
The ball is truly in Arsenal's court on this one. Should they stand firm and refuse to sell Nketiah now, he would be free to sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas team in January and could leave the club for free in just 12 months' time.
An ankle injury has prevented Nketiah from featuring so far this season - an absence made all the more frustrating by the fact that both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette have been out with COVID-19 at the same time.
In Nketiah's place, both Folarin Balogun and Gabriel Martinelli have been given chances to impress up front, although the two have struggled so far as Arsenal drew blanks against both Brentford and Chelsea.
Arsenal are looking to get a few sales over the line before the transfer window shuts. Sead Kolasinac is expected to join Fenerbahce in the coming days, while fellow defender Hector Bellerin is also pushing for his own move away.
Lucas Torreira and Willian are both free to leave if buyers can be found, while the future of young winger Reiss Nelson is also up in the air.