Arsenal remain resilient in the battle to keep Emile Smith-Rowe at the club.
Smith Rowe, 20, has two years left to run on his current deal, and this has prompted strong interest from Midlands club Aston Villa.
The Villans are looking to make the Arsenal youngster their third signing of this summer transfer window, as deals for Ashley Young and Emiliano Buendia have already been wrapped up.
But it seems they will struggle to convince the Gunners to sell one of their most prized assets in this summer window.
It was reported last week by David Ornstein that Arsenal had turned down a £25million offer from Villa, with football.london reporting at the start of the month that the Gunners remain confident he will sign a new long-term contract with the club.
Updates today on the deal demonstrate Villa's willingness to try and secure a transfer for the 20-year-old.
The Athletic claims Mikel Arteta's side have rebuffed a second offer of around £30m from Aston Villa, as the north London club remain 'adamant' that their academy graduate is not up for sale.
And Villa would have to significantly up their bid if they were to get anywhere close to opening talks.
That is because according to the CIES Football Observatory, with only two years left on his current deal- the Arsenal midfielder is valued at up to €50m (£42m).
This means that Dean Smith's side could potentially be £12m off the asking price - although it is extremely likely Edu would demand more.
At just 20-years-old, Smith Rowe has his best years ahead of him, meaning his value will do doubt increase year-on-year as he gets older, as well as hopefully getting better at the same time.
The Arsenal youngster was one out of a few players who provided Gunners fans with a glimmer of hope, in a season which saw Arteta's side finish in an underwhelming position of 8th place in the 2020/21 Premier League table- three places above the club who are in for the youngster.
In 36 games last season in all competitions last season, the attacking midfielder had a total of 11 goal contributions. Four of which were goals and seven were assists.
Whether the 'Croydon De Bruyne' is sold by the Gunners is yet to be seen, but one thing is for certain, and that's Arsenal's will to tie down Smith-Rowe to a long term contract.
A prospect which will be seen as a relief to Arsenal fans all across the world if these contract talks come to fruition.
