Arsenal ‘in the running’ for PL free transfer with Leipzig ‘very interested’ in £35m Gunners starlet

Arsenal are one of the teams in with a chance of landing Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha on a free transfer, according to reports.

The Ivory Coast international hasn’t contributed quite as many goals and assists this season as in previous campaigns but he still has eight Premier League matches to rectify that.

Zaha had his best two goalscoring seasons in 2020/21 and 2021/22 with the 30-year-old hitting the back of the net a combined 25 occasions in the league.

And now Zaha looks set to leave Crystal Palace for the second time in his career when the current campaign comes to an end with his contract expiring at the end of June.

Zaha left for the first time in 2013 as he left Selhurst Park for Manchester United for two seasons before returning to the Eagles after making just two Premier League appearances for the Red Devils.

And now French publication Foot Mercato claim that Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Monaco join Arsenal in being interested in signing Zaha in the summer.

They describe the Gunners as ‘in the running’ for the Crystal Palace winger but warn that they .

One player who could be on his way out of Arsenal is Folarin Balogun with the striker hitting 18 goals in 26 Ligue 1 appearances while on loan at Reims this season.

That has turned heads of scouts all across Europe with clubs fancying their chances of luring him away from Arsenal unless Mikel Arteta gives him some game time in the first team.

Currently Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah are ahead of Balogun in the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium and there are rumours that Arteta is tempted to bring in another forward this summer.

And now Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg says that Bundesliga side RB Leipzig are ‘very interested’ in Balogun with the striker’s price tag ‘at least €40m’.

They find the asking price of €60m for Lille forward Jonathan David ‘too expensive’ and that means they are ‘very interested in Balogun but [there’s] a lot of competition from top clubs’.

Ian Wright thinks Balogun can return to Arsenal at the end of the season and make an impression after reaching “another level” at Reims.

“It’s the way he’s taking those chances. His head space is at a different place right now. He knows he can do it right now. I guarantee you if he comes back, he probably picks up from what he’s doing in that league.”