Arsenal are in for 27-year-old Brazilian Sevilla defender Diego Carlos this summer, according to a report, but his price could prove problematic.

MADRID, SPAIN - MARCH 07: Vitolo of Atletico Madrid battles for possession with Diego Carlos of Sevilla FC during the Liga match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Sevilla FC at Wanda Metropolitano on March 07, 2020 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN: Vitolo of Atletico Madrid battles for possession with Diego Carlos of Sevilla FC on March 07, 2020. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

The Telegraph report that Arsenal are one of the clubs tracking Diego Carlos ahead of a summer move. Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu view him as a target in their plans for a summer overhaul.

The club would probably need to sell centre-backs first, for multiple reasons. Firstly, they just have too many right now.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi, Pablo Mari, David Luiz, William Saliba, Kieran Tierney if necessary, Konstantinos Mavropanos on loan and the youth options. That’s a long list.

Perhaps more importantly, Arsenal won’t be able to afford Carlos without sales. He has a £68m release clause, and Sevilla are unwilling to do business for significantly less than £54.5m.

The Gunners can’t afford to spend that on one player without bringing money in.

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of Arsenal interest in Carlos. El Desmarque reported the same thing back in May. The player said at the time that he was leaving any thoughts of a move to the end of the season.

The Brazilian defender is up to 41 appearances so far this season. He’s strong in the box on set-pieces, likes to play long passes and makes lots of clearances and blocks, but also a lot of fouls, per WhoScored. Arsenal now have some work to do if they want him.