Arsenal are willing to pay €40m to sign Lucas Vazquez, but new Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui doesn’t want the club to sell, according to reports in Spain.

Unai Emery is ‘very interested’ in signing Lucas Vazquez, according to Spanish outlet Don Balon. He’s looking to reinforce his attacking trio, and with Barcelona’s refusal to let Ousmane Dembele go, Emery’s reportedly turning to the Real Madrid man instead.

Lopetegui is vetoing the transfer though, as he holds the forward in high regard. The coach has Vazquez heavily in his plans for next season, and doesn’t want to hear about a departure, even though Arsenal are willing to pay €40m.

We’ve already seen evidence of Lopetegui’s faith in Vazquez, as he picked him for the Spanish World Cup squad. That was before the Real Madrid fiasco forced the 51-year-old out of the national team job, of course.

The 27-year-old was also a fairly key player under Zidane last season. Although he only made 16 league starts, he still managed 53 appearances in all competitions, scoring eight and assisting 16 goals.

That sort of impact would definitely be appreciated at Arsenal, but for now the deal doesn’t look likely. We’ll see if things change in the final week of the window.