Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi has been linked with a move to Arsenal.
The Guardian’s transfer rumour column claims the Gunners are hoping to fix their troubles this season by attempting to lure Ndidi to the Emirates.
The Nigerian midfielder has been key to City’s form again this season, only missing one league outing.
And Arsenal, currently stuck in 11th, are said to be impressed with what they have seen.
The report claims the Gunners will offer City £40m plus Granit Xhaka for their defensive midfielder.
Though, that’s unlikely to do the trick with City boss Brendan Rodgers ruling out any departures in the January transfer window.
Speaking in his press conference last week, Rodgers said, “There will be nobody leaving in January, categorically. I’m speaking regularly with (director of football) Jon Rudkin and Top (owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha).
“It’s really clear we want to keep this squad together. It’s an exciting team with growth and development, so we want to ensure they stay around beyond January.”
Ndidi has averaged the joint most tackles per game in the Premier League this season, with 4.4 alongside Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Of the players to make five or more appearances this season, the Nigerian international is also rated the fourth best performer in City’s squad by WhoScored with a rating of 7.52.
Speaking about Ndidi earlier this season, Rodgers said, “Ndidi is absolutely key for our team, but for any team you need a good defensive midfield player that can do a lot of the dirty work as they say.”
“He is improving all the time. His defensive qualities, he has a great brain to read the game.”
