Arsenal have ‘perfect’ £60m Ben White alternative they ‘love’ but transfer difficult to do

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Arsenal have eyes on Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba as an alternative to Ben White if they cannot clinch a deal with Brighton – although the centre-back would actually be more expensive than the Brighton man. That’s per Fabrizio Romano.

The Gunners are in talks to bring White to the Emirates with their Premier League counterparts wanting around £50million for their academy graduate.

Any deal is unlikely to be completed for several weeks with the England international currently at Euro 2020.

Arsenal saw a £40m bid rejected by the Seagulls with talks underway between the two clubs to broker an agreement.

White, 23, starred on loan at Leeds United in the Championship before impressing for Brighton last term, making 41 appearances for Graham Potter’s outfit.

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Tapsoba is another centre-half admired by the north London club but the Burkina Faso international is a crucial player for Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.

And they will demand around £60million to let go of Tapsoba, who played in 39 of their 45 games across all competitions last season, in the current window.

The African was crucial to Leverkusen finishing sixth in Germany’s top flight last term to qualify for the Europa League.

Speaking on his official Twitch account, transfer expert Romano declared: “Arsenal love this player. But Bayer Leverkusen want a lot of money so at the moment it’s really difficult and they are still keen on Ben White so we will see.”

Similarly, Romano said on the Here We Go podcast recently that Arsenal see Tapsoba as “perfect” despite their interest in White.

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He explained: “Arsenal also want to sign a centre-back and Tapsoba is really really highly appreciated.

“They love the player, they think he would be perfect. The big problem is the price.

“He is a fantastic centre-back, but the price is more than €70m, €60m or €70m and at the moment Bayer Leverkusen are not interested in selling the player.

“They want to keep him. You have to pay or the player will stay.”

Arsenal have meanwhile agreed a £6.8m deal to bring Nuno Tavares to England’s capital with the 21-year-old left-back poised to join from Benfica imminently.

Portugal under-21 international Tavares is expected to provide back-up to Kieran Tierney rather than come in as a starter.

The Gunners are also looking to wrap up the addition of Anderlecht midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga, who is expected to cost around £18m altogether.

Belgium’s Lokonga is thought to have already agreed personal terms with Arsenal as an agreement between the two clubs grows close.

With Tavares arriving, meanwhile, the out-of-favour Sead Kolasinac is set to leave with Lazio and Fenerbahce among the clubs interested in the Serbian.

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