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Evangelopoulos confirms £34.6m Arsenal bid rejected

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Image for Evangelopoulos confirms £34.6m Arsenal bid rejected

Roma knocked back a £34.6 million offer from Arsenal for Kostas Manolas last summer, according to the centre-back’s agent Ioannis Evangelopoulos.

The Gunners were heavily linked with the Greece international last summer as they looked to bolster their defensive reinforcements, but a move never materialised. Instead, Arsene Wenger brought in Rob Holding from Bolton and also splashed the cash on Shkodran Mustafi’s services.

The centre-back’s representative has now claimed the reason for the deal not going through was due to Roma’s asking price. However, he now suggests the 25-year-old could consider his options come June rather than leave the Serie A club this month, but has ruled out a move to the Chinese Super League.

Quoted in Sport FM, as reported by FourFourTwo, Evangelopoulos said:

‘I cannot say where Kostas would like to play, but it will be interesting to see which teams will come knocking for him.

‘Roma refused a €40m offer from Arsenal for Kostas in the summer. The Gunners were really interested, but Roma’s demands exceeded what they were willing to pay.

‘A transfer in January? There is no news there. There is no guarantee he will move in the summer, but there will probably be some offers. But in general, it is hard to predict anything in football.’

With Per Mertesacker’s future in doubt and Gabriel still yet to convince the Emirates faithful that he can become a regular at Arsenal, perhaps Wenger may rekindle his interest in Manolas this summer.

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