Arsenal ‘preparing player swap deal’ in order to sign Roma star Justin Kluivert

While it’s unclear when the summer transfer window will officially open, Arsenal are reportedly preparing a move to sign Dutch winger Justin Kluivert from AS Roma.

According to Italian source La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Gunners have been interested in signing the 21-year-old for a while and have also negotiated an exchange involving Arsenal player Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The Armenian midfielder is currently on loan at the Italian club and has made 13 appearances so far, this season.

The Serie A side are interested in making Mkhitaryan’s stay permanent and at one point reportedly negotiated a second loan deal with Arsenal for the 31-year-old. But, this would have also required the midfielder to sign a new contract with Arsenal since his current deal expires next summer.

However, the reports now seem to indicate that Arsenal would need to complete two separate deals to get Kluivert’s signature.

It’s believed a sum of around €12-€14 million would be enough for Mkhitaryan to stay at AS Roma while a fee of approximately €35 million would be required from Arsenal to bring the 21-year-old to north London.

Overall, the Gunners would reportedly need to offer €20 million along with Mkhitaryan himself in order to complete the signing of Kluivert.

The Dutch winger has featured regularly under manager Paulo Fonseca, making 18 appearances and also scoring 4 goals for the Italian club.