Bayer Leverkusen turned down an offer from Arsenal for Edmond Tapsoba two weeks ago, according to a report.

Gianluigi Longari of Sportitalia reports that Bayer Leverkusen rejected an Arsenal bid for Edmond Tapsoba a couple of weeks ago. As things stand, the Gunners are pushing to sign Brighton centre-back Ben White instead.

Longari was the first to break Arsenal’s interest in Tapsoba in the first place, writing in May that the defender was top of the club’s shortlist. That interest was later confirmed by the likes of Sport1 and The Athletic.

The problem was the cost of the deal. Reports at the time suggested a club would need to bid €60m (£51.4m) to sign Tapsoba.

At the time, that seemed very improbable, but Arsenal are now approaching that kind of fee to sign White. It’s possible that if the move for White fails, the Gunners could move for Tapsoba instead for a similar price.

There’s obviously a reason Arsenal are offering a bit of a premium for White, as he’s homegrown and Premier League tested. That will always give him a bit of extra sale value later on, so the investment isn’t quite as risky.

Whether they’d be willing to spend the same money in a defender who hasn’t played Premier League football and fills a non-homegrown spot in the squad is another matter. But many believe Tapsoba has the quality to be worth it.