Arsenal are working hard to sign England U18 international Jeremy Monga from Leicester City, but face stiff competition from the Premier League for his signature.
Arsenal are working hard to sign Leicester City’s Jeremy Monga
Arsenal are confident of securing the signing of highly coveted Leicester City 16-year-old attacker Jeremy Monga, despite a fresh hijacking attempt from their Premier League rivals.
As reported by The Times, Mirror Football understands Brentford are the latest club to show an interest in Monga through his agent Gersh, with the Bees potentially offering the talented teenager a faster path to the first team.
Newcastle and another unknown German club are also in the hunt for the Gunners, but the Premier League champions remain in pole position to sign Monga beyond July 10, when he turns 17.
The date is significant as it means Monga’s first professional contract, which he formally agreed with the Foxes last summer, is due to come into force and the Ligue 1 club will be able to pay his fee.
However, if a transfer package cannot be successfully negotiated between the parties, it may be resolved through the courts.
In February this year, Liverpool were ordered by the Professional Football Pay Commission (PFCC) to pay Rio Ngmoha’s base fee of £2.8m and bonuses worth up to £4m to Chelsea. Chelsea also received a 20% sell-on clause as part of the settlement.
Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta said the club were heavily involved in signing Monga, who is the third youngest player in the Premier League after the Gunners’ Max Dauman and Ethan Nwaneri.
Within the walls of the Sober Realty Training Center there is a determination to strengthen the standings of Arsenal’s youth team, which has lagged behind its main rivals in recent years.
Arsenal have held talks with Club Brugge regarding Christos Tzoris (Image: (Photo by Isosport/MB Media/Getty Images))
England Under-18 international Monga is considered a promising prospect with plenty of first-team potential, but despite making 30 appearances for Leicester last season, he is likely to have to be patient to get a chance under manager Mikel Arteta.
Aston Villa attacking midfielder Morgan Rodgers, Club Brugge star Christos Tzoris and PSG’s Bradley Barcola are also on the club’s shortlist, although it is accepted that Rodgers and Barcola’s contracts could be complicated during the World Cup.
Sporting CP, meanwhile, are set to save around £3.45m in the follow-on contract that Arsenal striker Victor Goqueres sparked during his first season at the Emirates.
He joined from Lisbon in August last year on a deal worth an initial transfer fee of £55m and up to £8.5m in bonuses, with some of those additions already met.
Gokeres has contributed 20 goals (21 goals and 3 assists in all competitions) and is worth £430,000 (€500,000) to the Portuguese side. Arsenal will also need to reach that number again if Gokeres reaches 40 goal contributions.
Monga is one of the most highly rated young attackers in the country (Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)
Sporting will also receive £1.08 million if the Sweden international plays at least 45 minutes in 20 games, with a cap of £4.3 million (€5 million).
He played 55 games for the club last season, but only 44 of them played more than 45 minutes, meaning Arsenal will have to pay him £2.16 million (€2.5 million) in bonuses related to his appearances.
In the end, Arsenal also secured Champions League qualification (in the group phase), worth £860,000 (€1 million) to Sporting. This particular add-on has a cap of 4 million euros, so you can only pay up to 4 times.
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