3Mario Hermoso
- Age: 23
- Position: Centre-back
- Contract until: 2020
- Club: Real Betis
- Estimated transfer value: £18m
Reports from Spain suggested Arsenal were considering paying the €40m release clause for Espanyol defender Mario Hermoso in January. Tis, of course, was nonsense, but his name is still doing the rounds.
Hermoso joined Espanyol from Real Madrid in 2017, having never appeared for Madrid’s first team after coming through their academy. Since then, the 23-year-old has really made a name for himself in La Liga.
Suddenly, there are rumours that Real Madrid want to activate their buy-back clause of €7.5m. However, Arsenal were also very interested, according to a report from Marca.
Hermoso had played every game of Espanyol’s league campaign before January, scoring a couple of goals and helping them keep five clean sheets. It’s no surprise the big clubs are starting to take an interest, and that interest will only increase after the Spaniard made his international debut recently.