COMFIRMED: Player now in London to complete £20M transfer to Arsenal – Personal terms agreed weeks ago
Arsenal have stepped up their pursuit of Galatasaray right-back Sacha Boey by submitting a €20million (£17.2m) bid, according to reports in Turkey.
Galatasaray signed the French defender from Rennes for a measly €1.15m in July 2021.
The 22-year-old has played 51 times for the Turkish giants and played a huge part in their Super Lig title success this term, starting 30 matches.
His fine performances for the Istanbul outfit have attracted interest from Premier League club Arsenal, who are in the market for a new defender ahead of the summer transfer window
Mikel Arteta is expected to bring in a right-back or central defender. If they sign a natural right-back like Boey, Benjamin White is expected to be used as a centre-back more often next season.
White had a brilliant season on the right side of Arteta’s defence, but you get the impression that the player’s long-term future is not in that position
Takehiro Tomiyasu is a very good full-back but is injured far too often. If it wasn’t for that, Arteta would probably not bother signing a right-back in the summer.
This is where Galatasaray defender Boey comes into things. According to Turkish outlet Turkiye Gazetesi, Arsenal have made an opening bid worth €20m (£17.2m) for the Frenchman.
The report claims the Gunners are ‘determined to finalise the transfer’, meaning Boey could be their first signing of the summer.
Although the bid is a decent fee, it is said that Galatasaray see the figure as a ‘low’ amount and want to ‘increase’ the €20m offer.
Arsenal ‘do not want to lose out on Boey’. He is also attracting interest from Brighton and Hove Albion, who ‘are expected to accelerate their official attempts in a short time’
The Gunners have been linked with young right-back Ivan Fresneda for quite some time and are reportedly leading the race to sign him.
There have been some reports that Arsenal have made an offer to sign the Real Valladolid defender, though this has been refuted by reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Romano wrote on Twitter: ‘Arsenal appreciate Ivan Fresneda since January but told they have NOT sent any official proposal, despite reports.
‘No concrete negotiation at this stage, race remains open — with Borussia Dortmund interested.
He said on May 26: ‘Galatasaray fullback Sacha Boey has now signed with CAA Stellar as new agents to prepare potential summer move.
‘Members of Gala board have been in London this week to negotiate with English clubs; Premier League, most likely destination.’
