Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United have all been in contact with Brighton about midfielder Yves Bissouma, according to the Sunday Times journalist Duncan Castles.
The reporter, who has a patchy record when it comes to reliability, claims that while the three teams are interested in the Malian international, they may find it difficult to secure his services, despite the player being open to a transfer:
“Bissouma has two years left of contract at Brighton and is keen to move to a higher-status club, keen to play European football. My information is that there are enquiries from Liverpool, United and Arsenal as to how much it would cost to sign him.”
“I think with Bissouma, it’s become a bit more complicated for the clubs bidding for him because Brighton are cash-rich at the moment after the sale of Ben White and they do not need to take the money in order to reinvest it in the areas which they are targeting, which are centre-forward and left-back.”
“I understand they’ve opened discussions with Bissouma about improving his salary and extending his contract with the idea of retaining him for at least one more season.”
Bissouma’s asking price is believed to be around the £40m mark, and if Brighton are under no pressure to sell, as Castles claims, then the Gunners would probably have to find the money to sign him through player sales.
Manager Mikel Arteta has said that the goal for the London club in the final days of the transfer window will be to offload some deadwood. The likes of Alex Runarsson, Sead Kolasinac, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Hector Bellerin, Reiss Nelson, Willian and Eddie Nketiah could all leave before Tuesday’s deadline.
Were the club to raise enough funds, they could yet consider a move for either Bissouma or even Lyon’s Houssem Aouar, but we shall see what happens over the next week.
