Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka is wanted by Atletico Madrid as a replacement for Manchester City-bound Rodri.
The Spanish giants are wasting no time in finding a potential replacement for Rodri, in a £62million transfer, and have Xhaka on their radar.
Atletico boss Diego Simeone may have a task on his hands to prize Xhaka away from the Emirates though, given Arsenal counterpart Unai Emery considers the midfielder one of his key players .
The club have no intention of selling the Switzerland star but that will not stop Atletico mounting a push for the 26-year-old, who has four years left on his contract with the Gunners.
Xhaka played in all of Arsenal’s big games in the Premier League last season until he suffered a groin injury.
And the Gunners lost three of the six matches he missed after that before going on to lose in the Europa League final to Chelsea with Xhaka playing the full 90 minutes.
Signed from Borussia Monchengladbach for £35m in 2016, he is now valued at much more than that by Arsenal.
Xhaka was linked with a move to Inter Milan earlier this summer but while their interest never materialised, Atletico are poised to move for him.
Their top target is Marcos Llorente of Real Madrid , but the Spanish giants are not keen to sell to their city rivals.
Llorente wants to join Atletico but his £44.7m asking price is also a big stumbling block, forcing them to explore other options.
Xhaka has always divided opinion among Arsenal fans but has played 134 times for the Gunners and last season was widely regarded as his best.
His midfield partner Lucas Torreira, who recently admitted he has struggled to settle in London, is wanted by AC Milan.
But as things stand Arsenal do not want either player to leave, despite the need for Emery to raise transfer funds from sales.
The club are willing to listen to offers for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi, while Laurent Koscielny is also likely to leave.
