Arsenal are plotting a £25m bid for Croatian centre-back Domagoj Vida in bid to add more steel to their defensive ranks, according to reports in the Metro.
Vida has been linked with a host of clubs, including fellow London side West Ham. Arsenal are now reportedly joining the race to sign the tenacious defender, according to The Sun. The Gunners currently have six central defenders at their disposal, but boss Unai Emery wants to add more quality.
This window Arsenal secured the signing of Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Borussia Dortmund, for a fee of £16m, however with injury to Laurent Koscielny and the inexperience of other defenders such as Rob Holding and Konstantinos Mavropanos, Emery needs another first-team quality centre back.
To free up funds for the transfer, Arsenal will surely have to offload some fringe players, as Emery has spent the budget allocated to him by the board. Mustafi has persistently been linked with a move away from the Emirates, most recently to Galatasaray. If he were to leave, it will allow for Vida to move to the Gunners.
Vida’s inspired performances at the 2018 World Cup won him many admirers, and the Besiktas defender has been linked to moves away since. The 29-year-old has spent only 6 months in Turkey, but is open to a move to the Premier League. The Croatian’s previous clubs include Bayer Leverkusen, Dinamo Zagreb and Dynamo Kiev, and he has made 65 appearances for his country.
