Arsenal have offered an initial £9.3m for Brentford’s captain Christian Nørgaard as they attempt to secure a replacement for Thomas Partey and are poised to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea this week.
Partey, whose contract expires next week, has yet to decide on his future having been offereda new deal on slightly reduced termsbut looks increasingly likely to leave. It is understood that Arsenal have identified Nørgaard as a player who could add experience to Mikel Arteta’s squad after the departure of Jorginho for Flamengo.
Their offer for the 31-year-old, who has been at Brentford since 2019 and played more than 120 games in thePremier League, is believed to be worth up to £15m including add-ons. It remains to be seen whether that will tempt Brentford into selling, with Nørgaard having two years on the contract extension he signed in March.
But the departure of the head coach Thomas Frank, a compatriot, for Spurs and and the opportunity for Nørgaard to play in the Champions League mean Arsenal have received encouragement that the Dane would be willing to join them. Brentford are expected to appoint Keith Andrews as Frank’s successor, havingagreed a dealwith their set-piece coach.
Nørgaard would be expected to compete for a place with the Spain midfielder Martín Zubimendi, who is due to complete his £35m move from Real Sociedad next week.
Partey is believed to have offers from Saudi Arabia and Turkey and has been linked with Barcelona and other Spanish clubs in recent weeks.
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Arsenal have agreed to pay Arrizabalaga’s £5m release clause. The 30-year-old, who spent last season on loan at Bournemouth, remains the world’s most expensive goalkeeper having joinedChelseafor £72m from Athletic Bilbao in 2018. He will vie with David Raya for the No 1 jersey.