Arsenal Prepared To Spend £75m On Trio Of Transfer Targets Before Appointing New Manager

Caglar Soyuncu

Arsenal are prepared to splash £75 million on centre-backs Caglar Soyuncu and Sokratis Papastathapoulos plus Bayer Leverkusen keeper Bernd Leno before appointing a new manager according to The Sun.

Per the source, the Gunners are closing on all three players in a bid to conclude transfer business early.

Head of recruitment Sven Mislintat has been driving the deals, the German is very familiar with Bundesliga football having previously worked as Borussia Dortmund chief scout.

See More: Who Is £30m Defender Caglar Soyuncu On Verge Of Emirates Move?

Mislintat knows all three players and has already conducted business in Germany, having signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Dortmund in January.

In fact he actually signed Papastathapoulos for Dortmund in 2013.

The Greek international is expected to cost around £15 million and only has 12 months remaining on his contract.

Freiburg defender Soyuncu meanwhile could cost up to £35 million and the Gunners may face competition from Roma and Manchester City who have also been linked.

The defender is one of the most highly rated Turkish youngsters and is a product of the highly acclaimed Altinordu academy along with Cengiz Under.

Soyuncu went from playing in the Turkish second tier to the Bundesliga two seasons ago, establishing himself as one of the most promising defenders in the league.

Leno meanwhile could fetch £25 million and would be seen as a long-term replacement for Petr Cech.