Arsenal look set to continue their summer spending as soon as the Euro’s are finished, with an interesting update on defensive target Ricardo Rodriguez.
According to the Swiss international’s agent Rodriguez has a termination clause in his contract, and he’s likely to activate it in order to force a move to the Gunners.
Currently playing in the Bundesliga for Wolfsburg, the 23-year-old has been on the lips of Arsenal fans since the signing of national team-mate Granit Xhaka.
The pair are good friends and now it seems Rodriguez, who has a £19million release clause, has his bags half packed and ready to make the move over to North London.
Several clubs have been linked with the left-back who has featured for Switzerland as their first choice since the age of 19, but Arsenal lead the chase due to the Xhaka link.
The move would certainly put pressure on the position of Kieran Gibbs, but talking to media earlier in the month, Rodriguez couldn’t hide his admiration for the switch.
That would be exciting, yes, especially because the room arrangement at Arsenal would be fixed as well.
But the big news today is that his agent has now spoken out about his clients future, and the way he talks it looks like Rodriguez will definitely be waving goodbye to German soil.
Rodriguez helped open Switzerland’s Euro 2016 account this weekend with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Albania, where both he and Xhaka played the full 90 minutes.
Speaking to TMW Radio, the defender’s agent Gianluca Di Domenico attempted to clear a few things up, including the rumours that Italian clubs are also sniffing around.
Today, Ricardo Rodriguez has a termination clause, which was not there before. You have to respect the contracts.
Ricardo loves Italy so much, so surely if there was a serious proposal we would see.
But we need to see if there will be. I spoke with the Roma coach on the phone a few times, but never about Ricardo Rodriguez.
Despite the links to Italy, the chances of Arsenal signing this man look very, very high and with that comes disappointment for academy graduate Kieran Gibbs.
The English international has had it tough this season following the remarkable fitness and form of Nacho Monreal who is now cemented as Wenger’s first choice at full-back.
However, a move for Gibbs would be good for both parties because without appearances the youngster has no chance of picking up international experience.
Newcastle United have already come knocking according to media reports, but a step down to the Championship could be too much of a blow for Gibbs to take.
One thing is for sure, Rodriguez is a top player and capturing him would definitely sure up our defence going into a season that has so much expectation on Wenger’s shoulders.
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