La Liga teams have never made it easy for Arsenal in the transfer window. However, it’s usually Barcelona that causes annoyance to the Gunners. According to the latest report from The Mirror, Real Madrid has joined the race to sign one of Arsenal’s top summer targets, Dayot Upamecano.

It’s revealed that it’s certainly not a two-horse race either, with Manchester City, RB Leipzig and, you guessed it, Tottenham Hotspur also interested in signing him. These are some top calibre clubs, with the exception of one in particular, of course.

Therefore, it begs the question; what exactly do Arsenal have to do in order to sign Upamecano? Well, they likely won’t have the Champions League factor to provide him so they will need to pay over the odds to bring the French defender to the Emirates Stadium.

Upamecano is just 21 years old which is hard to believe. The centre-back is one of the best young players in the world and he is a regular for Leipzig, and he’s a large reason why the club sits at a respectable third place amid the Coronavirus break.

Arsenal is certainly on the lookout for a centre back signing this summer, since many past rumours have all indicated the same thing. Whether it be Upamecano, Jonathan Tah or Jerome Boateng, it can be concluded that Arsenal’s priority is set.

The Gunners have a wide array of centre-backs at their disposal, however, it remains a position of concern. The truth is, many of the players in this position are getting old and in need of replacing; Sokratis Papastathopoulos and David Luiz in particular. This leads many to cross off Boateng as a potential signing since he is in the same calibre, but he is arguably more experienced at the top level.

So, should the Gunners be concerned about Real Madrid’s interest? Yes, of course they should. Los Blancos are financially powerful but they’re not much different to the other competition. If anything, this concern should spark the Gunners into action and it should inspire Stan Kroenke and company to make some ground in the race, since the summer transfer window is bound to be like none we’ve seen before.

Header image: Oleg Dubyna, 2016