Arsenal have been handed a boost in their pursuit of ‘dream’ left wing target Rodrygo after the 24-year-old Brazilian reportedly ‘asked to leave’ Real Madrid.
It had been previously thought Rodrygo had no intention of leaving the Santiago Bernabéu and would fight for his place amongst a stacked attacking line up that includes Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Endrick and Franco Mastantuono.
While Arsenal were initially pursuing Nico Williams from Athletic Bilbao, the winger has always stated his desire to join Barcelona and the Catalan giants are currently working to pay his release clause.
But now transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Rodrygo could tell new manager Xabi Alonso that he wants to leave and push through a move to Arsenal.
“The only way is if Rodrygo goes to Xabi Alonso and tells him at some point now – in one week, in two weeks – ‘I want to leave the club’.
“So is Rodrygo deciding? If he decides to go to Arsenal, the doors of this deal to negotiate could be open, but in this moment, Rodrygo still didn’t tell anything to Xabi Alonso.”
Another report however says Rodrygo has already ‘formally requested his departure in this summer market due to the imminent loss of prominence in the new tactical structure of the Basque coach’.
Real Madrid however will have to lower their valuation for Rodrygo from €90m [£77m] to around €60m [£51m] which is what Arsenal are prepared to pay.
The Gunners do have other alternatives on the left wing being considered including Ademola Lookman from Atalanta and Karim Adeyemi from Borussia Dortmund.
