Manchester United's proposed new contract for their goalkeeper David de Gea is ready to go but just waiting on the club to make their final decision.

How much does David de Gea earn?

There were a lot of positives to take from Erik ten Hag's first campaign at Old Trafford after the Red Devils lifted the Carabao Cup and secured Champions League football.

However, the Premier League giants go into the summer transfer window with a lot of significant questions still lingering over the club.

Of course, the future of the current ownership will remain the biggest concern for most fans at Old Trafford with still no real indication as to whether the Glazers will stay or sell.

But another question will remain whether De Gea will be provided with a new deal following the conclusion of his contract at Old Trafford which is set to expire at the end of the month.

It is believed the Spain goalkeeper has been earning in the region of £375k-per-week on his current deal which is set to expire.

However, a potential new deal for the 32-year-old is expected to see him take a significant pay cut which would still see him take home around £200k-per-week.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano has claimed the proposed contract is ready to go but United are still deciding on whether to stick with the Spaniard:

"I told you guys, the situation looks strange around De Gea because the agreement between De Ge and Man United is almost done; it's about the final details since the end of March.

"But it's also real that at the moment they are not signing the contract and so De Ge is a potential free agent. But at the moment the situation looks really strange more on the club's side than the player's side. De Gea will be ready to sign but at the moment it still doesn't have the final green light from Man United."

What goalkeeper could Man United sign?

Although the Red Devils are said to have this proposed contract at the ready for De Gea this summer, they have been linked with a number of potential options.

Indeed, reports have suggested Ten Hag holds a keen interest in the England and Everton shot-stopper Jordan Pickford this summer.

The report claims the former Sunderland goalkeeper could be made available over the coming weeks for a fee in the region of £30m given the Toffees financial issues.

But it is not just Pickford who has been linked with a potential move to Old Trafford this summer.

Indeed, talkSPORT's report has suggested there is an interest in the 34-year-old Yann Sommer and Inter Milan's Andre Onana.

It was not a season which De Gea will look back on as one of his best – ironically despite winning the Premier League Golden Glove – given some of the criticism he received.

However, it does seem as if he could still be set to ink a big-money deal to extend his stay at Old Trafford.

Chelsea have made signing a defensive midfielder a priority this summer amid strong suggestions N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic could be on their way out of Stamford Bridge.

The Croatian has been touted as a target for treble-winning outfit Manchester City, whilst the long-serving Frenchman is rumoured to have been offered six times his current salary to make a switch to Saudi Arabia.

The Blues massively underperformed even with the pair in their ranks last season, but they could be about to upgrade with a player wanted by many other elite clubs.

What is the latest on Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo?

Having missed out on a move for the midfielder in the January window, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claims Chelsea are now advancing on a deal to sign Brighton and Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo.

"Chelsea are advancing on Moisés Caicedo deal. Talks progressing on the player side, contract proposal made — personal terms close to being agreed. Deal not done yet — it will take time," the Italian journalist tweeted.

The Ecuador international handed in a public transfer request at the Seagulls at the turn of the year, only to then backtrack and sign a new contract that runs through until 2027, with the option of a further 12 months.

Unsurprisingly given his contract situation and the strong interest from elsewhere, with Arsenal also potentially still interested, Chelsea are said to be aware that it will take a bid of at least £80m to land their top midfield target.

Is Moises Caicedo a good fit for Chelsea?

Caicedo is not being brought to Chelsea to replace the 2022/23 version of Kante, who struggled with injuries last season that restricted him to just six Premier League starts.

Instead, if they are to have any realistic prospect of challenging in the higher reaches of the Premier League in Mauricio Pochettino's first season in charge, they need the same version of Kante that was crowned PFA Player of the Year in 2016-17 – the last season Chelsea won the top flight.

Kante really was a colossus that campaign, having been hailed at the time by legendary Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as being "by far the best player in the Premier League".

The 32-year-old machine played 35 of Chelsea's 38 league games that season and impressed with his tenacious style in midfield, winning 72% of the 177 tackles he attempted, as per Infogol.

Comparing those figures to the current day Caicedo, the Ecuadorian was successful with 80% of his 116 tackles last season, showing he can more than match peak Kante with that side of his game.

Caicedo also completed 89% of his passes last season, which is identical to that of Kante in 2016/17.

The comparisons do not stop there, either, as both men assisted one goal and scored one goal in those respective campaigns.

As put by Football365 writer Jason Souttar, Caicedo "is a very special player", and one "who could be regarded as the best No. 6 in the world very soon".

Indeed, on the basis of the past 12 months, Caicedo ranks in the top 6% of his positional peers across Europe's top five leagues for pass completion (88.5%), as per FBref, in the top 11% for interceptions (1.61) and top 13% for tackles (2.87) per 90.

For comparison, Kovacic has averaged just 0.97 interceptions and 1.82 tackles per 90 over the past year, though he does edge Caicedo in terms of his pass-completion rate of 86.1%.

The £80m valuation is certainly not cheap, but if Chelsea want to replace the Kante of old, then they really should not look any further than the Seagulls sensation, given the glowing evidence above.

A round-up of the Group D matches of the 2016-17 Vijay Hazare trophy held on February 26, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2017A century from MS Dhoni and his 151-run stand for the seventh wicket with Shahbaz Nadeem helped Jharkhand overcome a collapse to beat Chhattisgarh by 78 runs at the Eden Gardens. His 107-ball 129 came after Chhattisgarh had reduced Jharkhand to 57 for 6 in the 20th over. Opening bowlers Pankaj Rao (3-27) and Kant Singh (4-33) shared the first six wickets. But Dhoni, coming in at No. 6, combined with Nadeem (53 off 90) to steady their innings with a stand that lasted 27.4 overs, helping Jharkhand to 243 for 9. Dhoni fell off the last ball of the innings after hitting ten fours and six sixes. In response, Chhattisgarh failed to put on substantial partnerships before folding for 165 in an innings where only three batsmen got past 20 – Kant top-scored with 24, to add to a memorable List A debut. Fast bowler Varun Aaron (3-26) and Nadeem (3-36) were the top performers for Jharkhand with the ball.Akshath Reddy’s third List A century powered Hyderabad to 312 before Chama Milind’s four-wicket haul restricted Saurasthra to 199, for a 113-run victory in Kalyani. Reddy lost opening partner Tanmay Agarwal in the fifth over but added 191 with Kolla Sumanth, who retired hurt on 91. Reddy put up a career-best 154 off 132 balls before being run-out in a 48th over that accounted for three wickets. Medium-pacer Kushang Patel (3-54) took three wickets in four balls in that over. In reply, Saurashtra lost their openers within the fourth over. A third-wicket stand of 46 steadied the innings briefly before a collapse saw them fall from 57 for 2 to 96 for 7. All of Hyderabad’s bowlers chipped in with wickets, but Milind and Mehdi Hasan (2-44) were at the forefront. Prerak Mankad, the lone resistance for Saurashtra, hit his maiden century – 104 off 88 balls – before falling to Ravi Kiran (2-46).Pavan Deshpande’s maiden fifty anchored Karnataka‘s chase against Services, helping them to a four-wicket win at the Jadavpur University ground in Kolkata. After Services were put in, they lost quick wickets on either side of a third-wicket stand of 54 to slump to 114 for 6. Suraj Yadav (44*) and Diwesh Pathania (49) added 82 before for the seventh wicket, before Poonam Poonia’s unbeaten 13-ball 20 lifted Services to 231 for 7. Medium-pacer Prasidh Krishna (3-39) and offspinner Aniruddha Joshi (2-32) led the charge for Karnataka. Robin Uthappa, who effected three catches and a stumping behind the wickets, hit 51 off 43 after Karnataka were reduced to 3 for 2. His fifty came in a 76-run partnership with Manish Pandey (23) before the pair fell off consecutive overs to leave Karnataka at 81 for 4 in the 18th over. Deshpande’s 73 brought them to within 44 runs of victory, before Joshi (50* off 37) and J Suchith (24* off 18) sealed the win.

Ravindra Jadeja’s nine wickets in Ranchi have pushed him to No. 1 in the ICC bowler’s rankings, while Cheteshwar Pujara became the highest ranked Indian batsman, at second place

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-20170:28

Jadeja makes the No.1 spot his own

Ravindra Jadeja has overtaken R Ashwin at the top of the ICC Test rankings for bowlers, after taking nine wickets against Australia in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Cheteshwar Pujara was also a major gainer as his 202 off 525 balls propelled him above Virat Kohli to become the top-ranked India batsman in Tests. He was at No. 2, behind Australia captain Steven Smith.Although the Ranchi Test was drawn, at the end of the fourth day, the hosts had seemed in quite a dominant position thanks to these two players. Pujara, by facing more balls than any other Indian (where data is available) in Tests, secured a whopping 152-run lead though Australia had put up 451. It was the third double-century of his career, second against Australia, and it helped him continue a rich vein of form in the 2016-17 home season – 1259 runs at 66.26 with four hundreds and seven fifties.The top bowlers in Test cricket•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Jadeja, meanwhile, has outbowled his closest competitor Ashwin in the first innings this season – a sign that he was becoming a threat even without the pitch helping him too much. In all, Jadeja has taken 67 wickets at 22.98 with four five-wicket hauls in 24 innings. The changes he has made to his bowling, namely the ability to draw batsmen forward with flighted deliveries, as opposed to his usual method of bowling darts to get bowleds and lbws have made a strong impact. Kohli, at the end of the Ranchi Test, singled out Jadeja as “standing apart” from the rest of his bowlers.The top batsmen in Test cricket•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Smith consolidated his place at the top of the rankings with scores of 178* and 21 in Ranchi. Smith has 941 rating points is now joint-fifth highest ever with Peter May. Only Don Bradman (961), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs and Ricky Ponting (942) have ever got more.India will hold on to their position at the top of the rankings at the April 1 deadline for a cash award of $1 million. Australia and South Africa, on the other hand, have a chance to take over the second position. If Smith’s men at least draw the upcoming Dharamsala Test, they will finish at No. 2. South Africa can take over if Australia lose, and they either draw or win the Hamilton Test against New Zealand. The team that finishes second will be awarded $500,000 and the third-placed team will get $200,000.

Aston Villa have been linked with a Bundesliga ace, in a signing that could start Monchi’s tenure as president of football operations with a bang.

Unai Emery will be joined by his fellow Spaniard in the bid to replicate the duo’s success in the transfer windows they endeavoured in together at Sevilla.

The latest link suggests that the pair could enjoy a lavish summer in the Midlands, in a signing that could bolster the squad.

What’s the latest on Manu Kone to Aston Villa?

As reported by the Daily Mail earlier this week, Aston Villa are interested in Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Manu Kone.

The report claims that the Villans have joined ‘the race’ for the 22-year-old, following Liverpool and Wolves in their pursuit of the youngster.

Valued at £35m, the Frenchman is contracted to Gladbach until 2025 with the club holding the option to extend for an additional year.

What could Manu Kone offer to Aston Villa?

Emery has unveiled the best out of midfield dynamos Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara, who when interchanged with the likes of John McGinn have proved their worth in the Premier League.

The Spaniard could now add additional power to the middle of the park by signing the Bundesliga talent, who could prove to be the perfect partner for Kamara who joined the club last summer.

The former Marseille gem had a stop-start opening campaign at Villa, missing periods due to injury with the club treading carefully in integrating him into the midfield to avoid prolonged absence.

Lauded as a “phenomenon” by former teammate Rolando, Kamara is destined for stardom in Emery’s midfield and could be taken to the next level in being paired with Kone.

The attributes that the duo share suggest that they could be a strong pairing in the set-up at Villa Park.

When comparing both players via FBref based upon their averages over this season in their respective league’s there is sufficient evidence to imply the success the French core could impose in the Midlands.

Hailed as a “one-man army” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, Kone averaged an impressive 2.55 tackles per 90 which was slightly bettered by Kamara in the Premier League who ended the campaign making an average of 2.94 per 90.

It’s not just the defensive areas of midfield that the pair excel at, as they both portray an impressive rate of passing both in general play and progressively.

As per FBref, the Bundesliga gem averaged a pass completion rate of 86.2% followed closely by the Villa ace’s 84.8%, with both players ranking highly in terms of progressive passes with the summer target averaging 5.73 to Kamara’s 4.25 per 90.

Having two players equipped with strong abilities in both defensive and offensive attributes is essential in creating the perfect pivot in the engine room.

Emery could take his squad a step further in purchasing Kone, who could prove to be a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League.

Les Parisiens have serious issues at the back to address, something they showed in their first loss of the Ligue 1 season

Paris Saint-Germain were hit on the break three times, and, despite the heroics of Kylian Mbappe, failed to salvage a point in a disappointing home loss to Nice. Mbappe scored twice, but PSG's calamitous transition defending muted his efforts, as the Parisians fell 3-2.

The home side had the majority of the possession in the early goings but they couldn't find the net — and were punished by a more opportunistic away side. Terem Moffi provided the Nice goal, benefitting from a scramble inside the PSG box to poke the ball into the bottom corner with Gianluigi Donnarumma static. It was almost two shortly after, but Donnarumma made a full-length stop to deny Khephren Thuram's long-range effort.

Mbappe offered the PSG response, whipping the ball into the back of the net from outside the box. He was inches away from adding a second before the break, lashing a shot just wide of the post.

Nice went ahead once again in the second half, with Moffi shifting around a lunge from Danilo Pereira before feeding Gaetan Laborde, who couldn't miss at the back post. The striker bagged Nice's third 10 minutes later, evading two defenders before curling a fine effort into the bottom corner.

But Mbappe gave PSG life, guiding a volley past the keeper with five minutes to play. However, a third never came, and the Parisians were left frustrated in their first loss of the 2023-24 campaign.

GOAL rates PSG's players from Parc des Princes…

Getty ImagesGoalkeeper & Defence

Gianluigi Donnarumma (6/10):

Almost gave away a goal early on after a blunder at the back. Made an excellent save to deny Thuram. Couldn't really do anything about any of the three goals.

Achraf Hakimi (6/10):

Assisted Mbappe's equaliser after a neat run. Wasn't very effective in shutting down Moffi, who ran riot in the channel between him and Pereira.

Danilo Pereira (5/10):

Preferred to Marquinhos, who was late returning from international duty. Made to look silly in the run up to Nice's second goal.

Milan Skriniar (5/10):

Should have cleared the ball ahead of Nice's opener. Can be considered culpable for the third, too.

Lucas Hernandez (5/10):

Didn't recover particularly effectively on the counter, and was made to pay. Doesn't offer much going forward, either.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesMidfield

Carlo Soler (5/10):

Played as the most advanced of the midfield three in his first start of the season. Looked out of sorts with little game time under his belt.

Warren Zaire-Emery (6/10):

Played in a slightly deeper role than he's used to, and failed to impress. Needs Manuel Ugarte's strength in there to really thrive.

Vitinha (6/10):

Created the most chances in the match, linked well with Mbappe. Probably the most effective of the midfield trio — although he had little to show for it.

Getty ImagesAttack

Ousmane Dembele (5/10):

Missed badly when his team trailed. Made the wrong decision on a few occasions. Far from his best.

Goncalo Ramos (6/10):

Didn't have too many chances, but put plenty of work in off the ball. The big-money signing might need time to bed in.

Kylian Mbappe (8/10):

In the XI despite some fears of a knee injury sustained while on international duty. Gave the ball away in the run up to the Nice goal. Redeemed himself by bagging the equaliser, as well as the PSG second. Not his fault that the team lost.

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Getty ImagesSubs & Manager

Manuel Ugarte (7/10):

Steadied the midfield after a poor start to the second half. He looks like a top signing.

Randal Kolo Muani (7/10):

Assisted Mbappe on his debut, and offered a much-needed injection of pace.

Bradley Barcola (6/10):

Active without being impressive. Needs minutes to showcase his stuff.

Luis Enrique (5/10):

Handed Ramos and Soler starts, and failed to get much of a performance out of his side shortly after the international break. This was his first big hiccup in charge after two draws — he will certainly hope that there won't be many more.

Brendon McCullum is heading back to Middlesex for the NatWest Blast campaign

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2017Middlesex have re-signed Brendon McCullum for this season’s NatWest T20 Blast campaign.McCullum, who made six appearances for Middlesex last season, will re-join in early July and be available for nine of Middlesex’s South Group matches.Middlesex’s use of Lord’s for T20 is limited. Two of McCullum’s appearances this term will be home matches under the floodlights at Lord’s on Thursday nights, against London rivals Surrey on July 13, and against Essex a fortnight later, with a capacity crowd anticipated on both occasions.McCullum will also feature in two of Middlesex home outground matches, against Somerset at Uxbridge and against Kent at Richmond.Middlesex are one of two counties to have taken advantage of the new condensed midsummer format by bringing in Dan Vettori, the former New Zealand spinner, as a specialist T20 coach; Derbyshire have followed a similar route with the appointment of another Kiwi, John Wright.Middlesex’s managing director of cricket, Angus Fraser, said: “We are naturally delighted to have Brendon back to play for Middlesex in this season’s NatWest T20 Blast.”Brendon had a hugely positive influence on the club in 2016 and I’m sure he will have a similar impact this summer.”Middlesex’s improved Twenty20 form last season saw them reach the quarter-final before going down to Northants at Northampton.

After India’s capitulation in Pune, Virat Kohli said that he had not asked for such a pitch but saw nothing wrong with the track

Sidharth Monga in Pune25-Feb-2017Lowest match total for two all-out innings in India. Quickest end to two all-out innings in India. India’s fourth-lowest match total. The third-quickest they have taken to be bowled out. If India asked for this pitch, they have been hoisted by their own petard. India’s captain Virat Kohli, though, insisted that he had not asked for this pitch, saw nothing wrong with the pitch, and pulled himself and his fellow batsmen up for capitulating for a total of 212 runs in 74 overs.Asked if he or his team had asked for this pitch at a ground with a reputation for flat hard surfaces, Kohli said: “I don’t know. I didn’t speak to anyone.”About the pitch itself Kohli said: “I don’t think it was any different from the turners that we played on in the past. We just didn’t play good cricket. You can ask me any sort of question or any perception about the loss. We know exactly what happened, the mistakes that we made. External perceptions don’t matter to us, they have never mattered to us.”We played good cricket, that’s why we won. We played bad cricket, and that’s why we lost. That’s how simply we look at this defeat. We just want to take the learnings forward, improve and come back stronger in the next game. I can assure you that we are going to come back with more intent for sure, and put Australia under pressure straight from ball one.”Once the pitch was laid out, India had the option of strengthening the batting like they did on a similar pitch in Nagpur against South Africa. Kohli defended the selection. “We wanted to pick up 20 wickets, we did manage to do that,” Kohli said. “I mean, not in time. I would say we did make breakthroughs but we could’ve done it quicker and if you don’t grab your chances in the second innings, if you drop five chances of one batsman, then you certainly don’t deserve to win. If you get bowled out within 11 runs and lose seven wickets, you don’t deserve to win a Test match.”You can speak about combinations… I’m sure you wouldn’t have asked this question had we won the game. The question changes drastically when you win or lose. A lot of things are result-oriented, but not with our team. We focus on what we can do right, and what we need to do right on field, and we don’t drift away from that. Our mindset doesn’t change with the results.”Kohli said Indian saw the defeat as “no big deal”. “It’s fine,” Kohli said of the mood in the dressing room. “It’s just another international game. It’s no big deal. It’s how you should stay calm and composed when you win, how you shouldn’t get overexcited. The same way you react when you lose, something that you take on the chin. We take failures and losses as an opportunity to learn.”The defeat ended India’s 19-Test unbeaten streak, and Kohli looked back to their previous defeat for inspiration. “The last time we had a performance like this [in Galle, against Sri Lanka], we had the most outstanding run after that,” Kohli said. “I would say that we needed something like this for us to get a reality check and understand what are the things we need to work on and keep persisting with it. Not take anything for granted at any stage, especially at the Test-match level.”Kohli blamed his batsmen for not applying themselves, but defended his bowlers, who were outdone by Australia who had little experience of bowling in such conditions. “The way we batted in the first innings, I think we put ourselves under a lot of pressure to be honest,” Kohli said. “Conceding a 160-run lead on that kind of wicket is criminal actually. If we were close enough to their first-innings total, the bowlers’ mindset is different in the second innings. The moment you give away 50-60 runs, the game is drifting away already.”It’s very difficult to pull things back from there, even a single run hurts from thereon. And I would say our batsmen put us in that position where it was very difficult for us to come back into the game. Am not blaming the bowlers at all, they tried their level best, someone like Umesh [Yadav] bowling well in the first innings was great to see on a slowish wicket. They bowled in good areas, they put Australia under pressure, they were going well in the first innings and we pulled things back nicely. A few things we can take away from this game but [only] from bowling aspect. Our batting wasn’t up to standard, and that’s certainly how we shouldn’t bat from here onwards.’When asked what the Australia spinners did right in comparison to India’s, Kohli found no flaw with his unit. “I think our spinners bowled really well as well,” he said. “I wouldn’t say what they did better. As I said, if you don’t apply yourself, any bowling attack can look dangerous. It’s as simple as that. Even a part-timer can get four wickets if you don’t apply yourself. And I certainly would like to think that that was the case with our batting line-up in this game. It rarely happens that four-five batsmen make errors in judgement in both the innings, especially with the way we batted in the last few months. I would say this was our worst batting performance and we need to accept that.”One of the errors was Kohli’s, when he shouldered arms to become one of Steve O’Keefe’s 12 wickets in the match. This image was the most symbolic of all. Ravindra Jadeja had done this to Steven Smith in Delhi in 2012-13, and to Hashim Amla in Mohali in 2015-16. Now Kohli watched in horror as his off stump was laid flat. Kohli was forthcoming about his mistake.”It was a judgement error from my side,” he said. “I left the ball too early. I should have waited for the ball a little more. You can’t say which ball is going to turn or which isn’t. You’ve got to play the line, and I certainly didn’t do that. It was my fault.”

Rangana Herath conceded 400 career wickets would be “nice to have”, while reiterating that at 39, he considers his future in the game after every series. Having taken 6 for 59 in Sri Lanka’s victory in Galle, Herath is now the most successful left-arm spinner in Tests, surpassing Daniel Vettori’s career tally of 362. This was also his 29th five-wicket haul – only Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Richard Hadlee and Anil Kumble have achieved more.”If you can get to a target like that it would be terrific, because very few people have taken 400 Test wickets,” Herath said. “I’d love to get there, but I can’t guarantee that I’ll be in this form forever. But I’ll keep playing and contributing as I can for the team and for the country, and hope that the wickets keep coming.”That Herath is now among the most successful bowlers in the game is all the more extraordinary, given he did not have a long run in the team until he was 31. Before 2009, when he became a fixture in Sri Lanka’s Test XI, Herath had played only 14 Tests at sporadic intervals.”I have no regrets about starting late,” he said. “I have already played 79 Tests and I am happy with what ever I have achieved so far.”Herath needs 34 more Test wickets to get 400, and if matches are played per-schedule, Sri Lanka play six further home Tests this year before they are due to go overseas for a bilateral tour. In those matches, Herath may find himself sharing the spin duties with two other slow bowlers, however – Sri Lanka now having fielded three specialist spinners in each of their last four Tests on the island. Unusually, in this match, they also played two seamers, bringing the number of frontline bowlers to five. As acting captain, Herath said having so many bowlers at his command provided him with a wealth of possible strategies.”We talked a lot about playing six batsmen and five bowlers, and ultimately it was the selectors who made that decision,” Herath said. “I look at it the positive way. I have loads of options when you have three spinners. When we bowl long spells bowlers will get tired, so in that situation having five bowlers is a clear advantage.”As you saw today, playing against three spinners with such a large score to get is difficult for the opposition. The pitch wasn’t turning as much as usual, but we had the bowlers who did well – Dilruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan gave a lot of support.”Though Sri Lanka were rarely pushed in this match, they did drop three catches in the first innings. Catches had been liberally spilled in recent tours of South Africa and Australia as well. 

”After a game we look at the weak points in all three departments, and we have to be more cautious when it comes to fielding, as we missed a few chances,” Herath said. “But we are learning. We will work hard and come good.”

Arsenal are set for an insanely busy summer.

Mikel Arteta and his hungry, inexperienced side were on the cusp of immortality when they were on course for the club’s first league title since the invincible season in 2004, but were narrowly warded off by the irrepressible Manchester City.

Ultimately, the main factor that allowed Pep Guardiola’s outfit to prevail was their vastly superior squad depth.

Despite missing out on silverware, the outlook for Arsenal is much different from previous years as they prepare to play in the Champions League and look to simply add more talent to a setup already brimming with potential.

One name who has emerged as one of the Gunners’ main targets is Kai Havertz.

What’s the latest on Kai Havertz to Arsenal?

According to the Guardian, the North London outfit are confident of securing a deal £60m deal for Havertz.

The Blues are willing to sell the 23-year-old, who has informed the club of his desire to depart Stamford Bridge this summer.

The German’s contract doesn’t expire until 2025, and he won’t sign an extension, and with Chelsea under pressure to raise funds to dodge FFP and having a policy of selling players who are unwilling to commit to long-term deals, Havertz looks set for the Emirates Stadium.

The outlet also details that Arsenal is willing to match Havertz’s current wages, which are around £220k-per-week.

Who can Kai Havertz emulate at Arsenal?

Since arriving at Chelsea in the summer of 2020, the former Bayer Leverkusen has recorded 47 goal contributions in 132 appearances in England.

However, he has endured a tricky season, assisting just once in 47 outings, and was a regular starter in a Chelsea team that ended in a miserable 12th place.

He has been misprofiled at Stamford Bridge, as the German has often been started as the solo focal point, tasked with holding up the ball with his back to play, which has shunned the 24-year-old's involvement and creative influence

Outside of goals and assists, the 36-cap international has demonstrated himself to be a valuable asset – this is showcased by the fact he ranks within the highest 19% for progressive passes and progressive carries per 90.

Havertz, therefore, is at his best when he is feeding off a striker, and he can undertake a free-flowing playmaking role, similar to what Mesut Ozil performed under Arsene Wenger.

The 34-year-old notched 123 goals and assists in 254 games in England, forging a generational reputation as one of the modern era’s most intricate creators.

Ozil and Havertz possess similar builds, relatively slim magicians with a silky touch and impudent close control, who lack meaningful physicality. That's not to mention their remarkable left-footed nature with the duo two of the most easy on the eye you'll see in football.

Described as “outstanding” by Owen Hargreaves, a move across the capital could reignite Havertz’s career and if he can follow his compatriot’s footsteps in North London, then he’s destined for greatness.