Breaking: Striker’s agent heads to London to meet Arsenal chief as Chelsea plot transfer hijack
Aug 15, 2016 at 1:49 PM
Mauro Icardi’s agent is heading to London for transfer talks with Arsenal, according to reports.
Italian news outlet II Messaggero claim Wanda Nara, who is also Icardi’s wife, will fly to England for discussions with the Gunners.
However, it’s suggested Nara could also hold talks with Chelsea – and the Blues are reportedly ready to use Diego Costa as a bargaining chip to land the 23-year-old.
Nara has already hinted that the Argentine ace might be leaving Inter Milan this summer. In July she tweeted: “#calciomercato.” – Italian for the transfer market.
Chelsea are keen to strengthen their attacking options further having already snapped up Michy Batshauyi.
Arsenal are still in the hunt for an established forward. The north Londoners launched a bid for Leicester sensation Jamie Vardy before Euro 2016. But the England international opted to pen a new deal at the King Power stadium.
The 23-year-old Argentine forward was instrumental for Serie A giants Inter Milan last season.
And Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger rightly made him the Gunners priority target in the summer transfer window as he continues to search for an upgrade for the inconsistent Olivier Giroud.
New Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has apparently entered the race to bring him to London too.
The Italian boss has been heavily linked with Everton striker Romelu Lukaku this summer, but Everton’s insistence that he will not leave for less than £75m has left him frustrated.
And Icardi has emerged as a plausible alternative, with Conte having experienced the Argentine hitman first-hand during his time in charge of Juventus.
The young Argentinean forward scored an impressive 22 league goals last season and has followed that up with another 16 this campaign. He is starting to show consistency in his goal scoring and, at just 23-years-old, however, he still has room to improve.
It must be said that Icardi is not a typical Wenger number nine. The striker doesn’t pride himself on his link-up play, but instead builds his game around his instinctive finishing and positioning.
He is a decent height standing at 6ft and wins a respectable 41 percent of his aerial duels.
Icardi is not known for his pace but is certainly a quicker option than Giroud and may thrive off the creativity from the likes of Mesut Ozil behind him.