Arsenal are in talks over the signing of AS Roma’s Kostas Manolas, who has a €36m release clause, according to reports in Italy.

Nicolo Schira of La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Arsenal are ‘really interested’ in signing Manolas this summer. The AS Roma defender is expected to command his €36m release clause in full, and the Gunners have already made contact with the player’s agent Mino Raiola, according to Schira.

For those who have been following the news about Raiola’s ban this summer, the word is that his players are still free to move this summer through intermediaries and members of his wider staff, so that shouldn’t present an issue in a potential transfer.

Bringing in Manolas would mean adding another Greek centre-back to Arsenal’s defensive options, as the club already have Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Konstantinos Mavropanos in the senior squad.

There are some doubts about whether Manolas would really be worth €36m though, given he’s experienced a bit of a decline in the last couple of seasons. That’s not to say he’s not still a good player, and at 27 years old he still has at least half a decade ahead of him, but there isn’t as much hype around the defender as a couple of years ago.