Arsenal considering late move for former Tottenham target before transfer deadline

Arsenal are weighing up a late move to sign Lyon winger Malick Fofana before the transfer deadline, according to reports in France.

Christos Tzolis remains Arsenal’s sole attacking addition this summer and the Premier League champions continue to scour the market for possible reinforcements to strengthen Mikel Arteta’s frontline.

Vinicius Junior had been identified as Arsenal’s primary target for the left flank and the Gunners were optimistic about luring the Brazilian away from Real Madrid right up until the start of this month.

But Vinicius went on to sign a new long-term contract at the Bernabeu, forcing the north London giants back to the drawing board in search of a winger to fill the void left by Leandro Trossard.

Gabriel Martinelli’s impending £56m move to Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal is set to leave Arteta with even fewer viable options on the left-hand side.

RMC Sport report that Arsenal are ‘exploring the possibility’ of signing Lyon and Belgium star Fofana and ‘considering a move’ before the summer transfer deadline.

Lyon find themselves in a position of needing to sell players and the departure of Fofana would ease some of club’s financial problems after their failure to qualify for the Champions League.

Fofana, who represents the Ligue 1 outfit’s most valuable asset, is said to be attracting plenty of interest and a move could be sanctioned in the final few hours of the transfer window.

It’s claimed Arsenal have made enquiries to determine the conditions they would have to meet to coax the 21-year-old to the Premier League.

The report adds that Crystal Palace already have an agreement in place with Lyon for Fofana, but the player himself has turned down a proposed switch to Selhurst Park.

According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Fofana is firmly on Arsenal’s radar and has spoken privately with Arteta over a proposed move to the Emirates.

Tottenham were heavily linked with Fofana earlier in the summer and reportedly made an unsuccessful £22million offer for the forward before focussing their attentions on landing Savio from Manchester City.

Roma have also been keeping tabs on Fofana’s situation in recent weeks.

Fofana has racked up 19 goals and eight assists in 84 appearances for Lyon since joining the club from boyhood side Gent back in 2024.

The highly rated youngster has been capped five times by the Belgium national team but missed out on a place in Rudi Garcia’s World Cup squad earlier this summer.

His current contract with Lyon is not due to expire until June 2028.

Facing the media ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Aston Villa, Arteta refused to be drawn on separate rumours linking the club with Atletico Madrid and Argentina striker Julian Alvarez.

But with rumours swirling over possible departures, the Spaniard warned that the Gunners must be ‘very careful’ over who they decide to sell.

‘The balance has to be right,’ the Arsenal head coach told reporters.

‘There are areas that we have to improve to hit those numbers. And if it’s not with sales, because maybe we don’t want… we have to sell what we want to sell as well, not just to sell.

‘And then when we want to sell as well, we have to be very careful because some of the assets, after maybe they grow and we still want them.

‘So maybe we can grow in other areas across the club as well. And commercially, we’ve done incredible. The fan base that we have is incredible. Our mass revenue is incredible. And there are other ways to grow and that’s the club’s strategy.

‘But we want to improve in all of them, obviously, because it’s going to give us a bigger room to be stronger financially.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.