Arsenal are ready to turn to Yacine Brahimi if Crystal Palace continue to rebuff attempts to sign Wilfried Zaha.
An opening offer of £40million was rejected on Monday with Palace refusing to budge over their £80m asking price, which includes a 25 per cent sell-on fee to Manchester United thought to be capped at around £15m.
Zaha wants a move to north London but the clubs are a long way apart in their valuations, with the Gunners needing to offer players in part-exchange or sell elsewhere to fund a big offer.
There is a willingness to pursue further negotiations, with Arsenal expected to make an improved offer imminently, but they could hit a similar impasse to their attempts to sign Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser and Yannick Carrasco of Dalian Yifang.
Bournemouth are demanding around £40m while Dalian want £25m for Carrasco if they decide to sell.
Brahimi, 29, is available on a free transfer from Porto after scoring 13 goals in 49 matches last term. He wants a £3m signing-on fee but his wages are not thought to be prohibitive.
Zaha remains the priority for Arsenal but with two other unnamed English clubs having expressed an interest in Brahimi—in addition to Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas—they may soon be forced into a decision.
Reports in Spain this morning also linked Arsenal with a move for Barcelona winger Malcom but the Catalans are demanding a £50m fee.
