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Football London
Football London
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Kieran Horn

Arsenal 'pushing' to complete £26m bargain transfer as Edu finds Martin Odegaard competitor

Arsenal look set to be in a four-way summer transfer battle for one of the Bundesliga's rising stars in the hopes of building on from a potential Premier League title win. With the March international break close to reaching its conclusion, focus firmly shifts back onto domestic action with the Gunners set to contest ten proverbial cup finals in from April 1 until May 28 in their title battle against Manchester City.

Regardless of whether or not the 2022/23 season ends with silverware for Arsenal, Mikel Arteta and Edu likely already have a clear idea of who they will be targeting in the summer. A top midfielder seems to be the main priority with West Ham star Declan Rice as the number one target, football.london understands.

Across the pitch, it is not exactly clear what positions desperately need upgrading with Arsenal well-stocked in quality and depth after a successful January transfer window. After missing out on key targets in Mykhailo Mudryk and Moises Caicedo, who both received multiple offers from north London, Leandro Trossard and Jorginho were instead the duo signed by the league leaders.

READ MORE: Arsenal can send clear transfer message to Declan Rice with Bukayo Saka contract extension

Both of those deals look to have worked out perfectly though, with Trossard settling in seamlessly and Jorginho a necessary acquisition having been needed to fill in on a number of occasions for several Thomas Partey injuries. Edu will therefore be hoping to repeat his transfer success in the summer and one of the players who could certainly help the Brazilian do that is Eintracht Frankfurt star Jesper Lindstrom.

In recent months Arsenal have been loosely linked with the 23-year-old versatile midfielder, but now a new report from Patrick Berger on SPORT1 has revealed the Gunners are pushing to sign Lindstrom, along with three other Premier League clubs. The report adds that Frankfurt are condemned to losing Lindstrom and he therefore could be available in the summer for €30m (26.3m).

So far this season, Lindstrom has scored seven goals and grabbed four assists in 22 Bundesliga appearances, mostly being deployed in an attacking midfield role. Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is currently the man filling that role at Emirates Stadium, but more competition for places will certainly not be a bad thing in the eyes of Arteta.

While the Norway international has provided a creative spark regularly throughout the season, Arsenal have suffered in the results department when he has not been at the top of his game. The defeat to Everton highlighted the importance of his role with Arsenal struggling to offer anything in attack, but a bright option off the bench, such as Lindstrom, could have changed that.

Arteta likely hoped Fabio Vieira would be able to have that impact following his £34million move last summer from Porto. However, the 22-year-old has struggled for significant game time and has also been unable to use his limited minutes on the pitch to great effect.

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