Valencia want to sign Matteo Guendouzi this summer, but rather than paying the £40m asking price they want a loan deal.

The Times report that Valencia want Matteo Guendouzi on loan after his recent exile from the Arsenal squad. The Gunners are hoping to bring in around £40m for the player this summer, but Valencia don’t have that kind of money right now.

Super Deporte (via Sport Witness) add that Valencia are in contract with Arsenal over a possible move, though there’s no word on what their response has been. Once again, the Spanish outlet claims Valencia want a loan without a mandatory purchase clause.

The Mirror report that Valencia are offering a loan deal with an option-to-buy at £16m. That’s better than a loan deal on its own, but not a high enough fee and with no guarantee they’ll even pay it.

Valencia are in a bit of a financial crisis, so there was never much chance of them making a permanent bid upfront.

Things are all moving pretty slowly in the Guendouzi saga. Perhaps he thought he could easily cut ties with Arsenal and jump ship to a Barcelona or Real Madrid but, so far, no club on that level is showing any interest.

There are very vague rumours of links to PSG but nothing substantial, yet.

Instead, Arsenal are getting loan offers from Valencia, which are pretty much useless to them. Why send Guendouzi out on loan when he only has a deal until 2022?

In turn, Arsenal’s ability to get their own summer business done is facing delays. Until they know what they can bring in for Guendouzi they don’t know what they have to offer for their midfield targets.