Having endured a winter without funds, Arsenal are planning to hit the summer transfer window hard with RB Leipzig starlet Ibrahima Konate their first target, reports football.london.
The 19-year-old centre-back fits the profile of players scouted by the soon-to-be-departed head of recruitment Sven Mislintat. However, it isn’t a deal he will see coming to fruition as he leaves the Gunners at the end of this week. Marc Overmars is currently favourite to return to north London in the technical director role.
Arsenal are set to lose Laurent Koscielny in the summer with the former France international looking to return to Ligue Un. It was a move he hoped to make last summer but a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered during last season’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid put those plans on ice.
Konate began his career with Sochaux in Ligue 2, making his debut in February 2017 as a seventeen-year-old. That summer, he moved to Leipzig after making just 13 appearances for the French club.
At the time, Leipzig coach Ralf Rangnick said: “He’s a young, highly-gifted player who’ll strengthen our defence.”
Konate made 8 appearances last season but has yet to feature this time around. Despite that, Rangnick remains an admirer of a player about whom he opined: “He shows great qualities despite being only 18, and we’re convinced he’ll bring us a lot of joy.”
If “joy” equates to a big transfer fee, Arsenal will be delighted to make Leipzig happy.
