Barcelona turn to William Saliba as Chelsea set to clinch Jules Kounde signing - Paper Round

Barcelona want Saliba if they fail to sign Kounde Barcelona are keen on signing William Saliba from Arsenal, with the 21-year-old French defender demanding guarantees that he be a regular starter under Mikel Arteta. If those guarantees are not forthcoming then he would like to leave the club, and Xavi considers him an option if they fail to sign Jules Kounde, who The Sun reports, is set to join Chelsea.

Ad/> /> TransfersArteta praises 'exceptional' Zinchenko ahead of £32m move to Arsenal21 HOURS AGO Paper Round’s view: Kounde appears on course to link up with Chelsea from Sevilla with a transfer rumoured to be worth around £55 million. That would leave Barcelona in a bit of a dash for an alternative, and given Saliba has never quite settled in at Arsenal since his arrival, largely spending his days out on loan, it would be more than understandable if he was tempted by the chance of a move to Spain.

Read the full story Arsenal focus on clearout While there is no suggestion that Arsenal want to sell Saliba, The Mirror lists eight players who could be sold at the Emirates. If Mikel Arteta wants to spend to add more players to his squad, then Nicolas Pepe, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Hector Bellerin, Reiss Nelson, Folarin Balogun, Pablo Mari and Bernd Leno could all be used to raise funds.

/> Paper Round’s view: Pepe has been hugely underwhelming but there is little chance of recouping much of the rumoured £70m transfer fee for the winger. There are many players bought over the years who have failed to step up to deliver the required level of performance, so they will need to be encouraged to leave rather than linger in the hope of a recall from Arteta.