Arsenal are interested in Real Madrid defender Victor Valdepenas, and they’ve scouted the teenager heavily in recent months.
Sami Mokbel reports for the BBC that Arsenal hold an interest in Real Madrid’s Victor Valdepenas, heavily scouting him in recent months with a view to a future move for the defender.
The Gunners haven’t made a formal offer yet, but they have held internal discussions about a potential approach.
Mokbel adds that it remains to be seen whether Arsenal go for Valdepenas now or in the summer, assuming they do decide to finalise their interest. The player has a €50m (£43.3m) release clause, though the club would presumably look to do a deal below that figure.
Mokbel’s update followed a post from football insider Hand of Arsenal earlier in the day, who reported that Arsenal were monitoring Valdepenas’ situation. The post added that the player is held in very high regard within the data teams for both clubs.
19-year-old centre-back Valdepenas can also play at left-back, which is generally a good sign when it comes to players Mikel Arteta might target.
Of Arsenal’s current batch of defenders, Cristhian Mosquera, Ben White, Piero Hincapie, Jurrien Timber, and Riccardo Calafiori are all very capable of playing as either full-backs or centre-backs, and Myles Lewis-Skelly can play left-back or in midfield.
It’s only William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes you’d expect to stick to their current position.
Valdepenas has made one appearance for Real Madrid’s first team, debuting in December, but he largely plays for Real Madrid Castilla. Internationally, he plays for the Spain u19s.
The youngster has a contract until 2029, so barring the release clause his current club are in a pretty strong negotiating position.