Arsenal told to hijack £70m deal for Man City’s Rodri replacement

Arsenal have been told to pick up any lingering transfer scraps from Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni’s Real Madrid bust-up.

The Los Blancos pair were involved in two separate training ground disputes last week, which saw them each handed £432,000 fines.

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Valverde was hospitalised as a result of the row and was forced to miss the 2-0 El Clásico defeat to Barcelona on Sunday.

Tchouameni, meanwhile, played the full 90 minutes against Hansi Flick’s men but has faced increasing speculation over his future.

The Frenchman is on Manchester United’s radar, and talkSPORT’s Ben Jacobs revealed he has been valued in excess of £70million.

Madrid are working on raising funds to sanction their own midfield revamp, with Man City’s Rodri among their leading targets.

European football expert Andy Brassell has now

Do Real Madrid sell Tchouameni?

“I think it’s a really difficult decision for Real Madrid because there’s so much of what Tchouameni does which should be what they’re going to build around in the years to come,” Brassell told talkSPORT.

“You look at his age, you look at the number of years that he’s got to give them, how much he’s got to develop, how much he’s developed already.

“He’s someone who can play centre-back and not look like a midfielder playing in defence as well. That’s really useful.

“You add on to the fact that he is a real leader and from the moment he arrived, a little bit like Jude Bellingham, he really impressed people with his personality, his attitude, his confidence, his application.

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“But there’s no getting away from the fact that he and Valverde have had this serious argument,” Brassell continued to talkSPORT.

“There’s probably an argument that one of them has to go, and basically, Tchouameni’s got a bigger market out there.

“Real Madrid, I think, will at least consider offers – In an ideal world, I don’t think they sell him, but there will always be a market for Tchouameni in the Premier League, and there’ll probably be some recognition of that and depending on the offer, I guess it’s something they might take as well.

“I think when you look at the clubs, there are two obvious answers, and those are the two teams at the top of the league, Arsenal and Manchester City.”

Tchouameni to Arsenal or Man City?

Brassell backed the Gunners to enter a potential race for Tchouameni, who is currently contracted until 2028, if he becomes available.

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Mikel Arteta splashed £55m on a new No.6 last summer in Martin Zubimendi, who has since lost his midfield spot to Myles Lewis-Skelly, and was subbed off just 39 minutes after replacing Ben White in the 1-0 win over West Ham.

Tchouameni’s potential arrival at the Emirates would not only keep him out of their title rivals’ hands but also release Declan Rice, who ironically snubbed a switch to Man City to join Arsenal.

“I know Arsenal have quality in midfield,” Brassell added.

“It’s going to be difficult for Arsenal to upgrade this summer because they’ve got so much quality in so many areas

“But they will do it, and they’ll have to do it, and when you’re upgrading from the sort of position they’re in, it’s expensive. There’s no two ways about it.

“I think the benefit for Arsenal of buying Tchouameni would be twofold.

Benefits of Arsenal buying Tchouameni

“One, it releases Declan Rice to do other stuff because we’ve seen in recent weeks that Declan Rice has had to do a more defensive job, and he’s done it very well, but there’s part of you that says it’d be nice if you were galloping into the final third and Tchouameni allows him to do that.

“The other convincing reason for Arsenal to go and get Tchouameni if he was available to Premier League clubs is to stop City getting him.

“I really think he would be quite transformative for City – Now we’re reaching that point where they’re sort of edging into a new era.

“The front half of the team looks great. They’ve brought in [Gianluigi] Donnarumma, who has been great.

“I never thought I would be at a point in May of this season where I’m saying Abdukodir Khusanov is their best defender, but I think that’s where we’re at.”

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Real Madrid and Man City could benefit from swapping midfielders

“I think they need defensive reinforcements,” Brassell explained on the challenges facing Pep Guardiola’s side this summer.

“Part of that is they were understandably reliant on Rodri for a while, and now, because of consistent fitness concerns, and I think after you’ve had a major injury, to come back to full fitness and just carry on like it was before, especially as a midfield player in the Premier League, is really difficult.

“So I wonder if Real Madrid and Manchester City would actually benefit from swapping midfielders.

“If Rodri could add a bit of stability to Real Madrid and really preserve himself health-wise by stepping out of the Premier League because he’s got a lot of frustrating injuries since he’s been back from that ACL, and from Manchester City’s perspective, Tchouameni’s robust, experienced, can even get better from where he is and is a real leader.

“I wonder if that’ll suit both teams.”