Arsenal are reportedly ready to offer €35m for AC Milan forward, M’Baye Niang, in January.

The 21-year-old claimed recently that Arsenal and Everton have already tried to sign him in the past and now, if reports are to be believed, we’re ready to return and offer a massive amount of money in order to bring him to north London.

Here’s what Niang said back in September.

“I hope one day I move to the Premier League, and to play there is a dream of mine, the right football for my style of play.

“I had the opportunity to sign for Arsenal and Everton, when [Ligue 1 side] Caen had accepted offers from them, but I chose AC Milan.”

This does make it sound as if any interest we could have was genuine at one point. Whether it still is remains to be seen.

Do Arsenal want him?

It’s hard to say but most definitely not for €35m. While this might be the going rate for a quality forward reaching his prime, Niang is only 21 and we wouldn’t be spending that amount of money on a player for our youth squad.

Our first team is doing just fine for forwards at the moment so again, why would we need to spend that much money on just another squad player unless we’re convinced someone is leaving?

So far this season, Niang has scored three and assisted the same amount in seven appearances, which is amazing, but that doesn’t automatically mean we want to sign him.

His contract runs out in 2019 so not any time soon. Surely if he’s available in January considering the form he’s in, he would have been available in the summer. In which case, why didn’t we sign him then when we needed forwards?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0YtVu4KHII