Ivan Fresneda is currently set to stay with Real Valladolid until the summer window, despite strong interest from Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund.

Fabrizio Romano reports that after a month of speculation on Ivan Fresneda, the defender is now set to stay with Real Valladolid until the summer.

Both Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund wanted to sign Fresneda in January, and both were seemingly open to letting him return to Valladolid on loan until the summer.

But the deal was never done, and he’s now expected to review his options again in June.

Early last week, a report from The Athletic suggested the race to sign Fresneda from Real Valladolid was down to Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund.

There were then suggestions that Dortmund were particularly close to reaching an agreement, but that seemingly never happened.

A number of other clubs had been chasing Fresneda, including Newcastle United. It’s possible those clubs will now re-enter the race over the summer.

The exact reasons why Fresneda’s potential exit this month didn’t happen aren’t clear, whether it was a decision by the player, or if neither Arsenal nor Dortmund ever reached a total agreement with Valladolid.

The primary consequence of Arsenal failing to do a deal in January is that they may face heavier competition in the summer. But other than that, there are few downsides.

The player was going back on loan until summer anyway, and a summer deal would still be soon enough to qualify him as homegrown in the Premier League by the time he’s no longer eligible as an under-21.

Whether Arsenal will go back for Fresneda is another matter, as the Gunners have generally avoided pursuing the same targets in consecutive windows.