Exclusive: Arsenal agree personal terms with €55m-rated Roma ace
Arsenal are close to strengthening their defensive options in the summer after agreeing personal terms with Roma defender Kostas Manolas, WhoScored can exclusively reveal via Emanuele Giulianelli.
The 25-year-old was widely expected to commit to a new long-term deal to Roma during the first half of the season but nothing has been forthcoming as the Greece international closes in on a summer switch to Arsenal.
Addressing Arsenal’s back four has become a priority for Arsene Wenger with Per Mertesacker's long-term future at the club in doubt and Laurent Koscielny now the wrong side of 30.
Roma are unwilling to let Manolas go halfway through a very important season for the club in which they are still trying to push Juventus all the way in the league while also fending off the likes of Napoli and Inter for second place.
However, Luciano Spalletti’s side will allow the former Olympiacos defender to join Arsenal at the end of the season in a deal worth a staggering €55m (£47m).
Manolas has spent the last three seasons with Roma and established himself as one of the best defenders in Italy. He is calm when in possession, as shown by his pass success rate of 88.2% in that time, and that is a trait that Wenger gravitates towards when looking for new players to add to his squad.
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Arsenal's interest in Manolas doesn't really make much sense. Arsenal already have Koscielny, Mustafa, Gabriel, Mertesacker, Chambers and Holding on their books and based on their relative performances of those players to date in contrast to Manolas, he would still be behind Koscielny, Mustafi, Gabriel and Holding.