Arsenal eyeing young Galatasaray star this summer

Arsenal's once stingy defense began to leak as the season progressed. Photo: PA Photo/Nigel French. are considering a summer move for Galatasaray right-back Sasha Boya as they look to strengthen their defense ahead of next season.

Arsenal's lack of defensive depth has cost them dearly in the last weeks of this campaign and they hope to fix this as soon as the transfer window opens.

The fight is a regular for Galatasaray this season open to the idea of ​​moving to England.

Turkish sources have said Galatasaray will demand around £20m for the 22-year-old Frenchman, with Arsenal expected to face competition from rival Premier League clubs.

Arsenal spent this season with Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu as main right-backs, but lost Tomiyasu in March to a serious knee injury.

Mikel Arteta said on Friday that he hoped Tomiyasu would be ready for pre-season, but there are concerns that the Japan international could be out for much longer.

Arsenal were also exploring right-back options in January, when they were eyeing Ivan Fresneda, the teenager from Valladolid, ahead of a possible summer move. It remains to be seen if they decide to increase interest in Fresneda.

As Telegraph Sport reported earlier this month, Arsenal are also interested in unpopular Manchester City defender Joao Cancela, although there are fears that City will be reluctant to sell him to their closest title challengers.

Arsenal's top priority for the summer remains a position in central midfield, with West Ham United's Declan Rice known to be their top target.

Brighton's Moises Caicedo was the subject of two offers from Arsenal in January and remains an interesting player, while the north London club are also considering signing City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, who will be available on a free basis. a transfer this summer unless he agrees to a new Manchester deal.

Arteta said this week that the club should «fix» their set in the transfer window if they want to challenge for the title again next season.

«I think the competition will continue even harder than this season,” he said. “In my opinion, this was the hardest of the 22 years that I spent in this league. We have a promising plan for this.”