Arsenal could face stiff competition in the race for Inter Milan‘s Mauro Icardi next summer, as Manchester City are reportedly prepared to offer €40 million for the striker.

That’s according to La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia), with Football Italia noting the Gunners and rivals Chelsea have also been linked with the 22-year-old.

The Inter captain has been one of the few highlights at the San Siro in recent years and last season bagged 27 goals and nine assists in all competitions.

Though he hasn’t been able to replicate the same form so far in this campaign with four goals and an assist in 12 appearances, Italian football expert Adam Digby believes the forward remains a potent hitman:

Arsenal could use another forward to share the workload up front for the Gunners, as beyond Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez, they have few reliable options—Theo Walcott can be prolific but can’t be relied upon due to injury, Danny Welbeck isn’t nearly clinical enough and Joel Campbell, though encouraging, is not yet scoring regularly.

Likewise, with Sergio Aguero often out injured, City are frequently forced to rely on the hit-and-miss Wilfried Bony and teenager Kelechi Iheanacho, so another striker would be useful.

Gazzetta‘s report (h/t Football Italia) indicates Icardi is hopeful of staying with the Serie A side, and the club are likely to try to hold onto their best players as they seek to rebuild and return to their position among Europe’s elite.

However, it also reports that to recruit further talent to aid their project, Inter may equally be forced to raise the cash through sales, so Icardi’s position at the club may not be quite so secure.

The Argentinian could well be subject to a bidding war in the future, and he is an exceptional talent—if Arsenal are hoping to lure him to the Emirates Stadium, they’ll need to be prepared to spend big.

Returning to north London could be on the cards for on-loan goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, as according to the Mirror‘s Ed Malyon, temporary club Roma are pursuing a January deal for Paris Saint-Germain stopper Salvatore Sirigu, and as a result, the Pole’s spell in the Italian capital may be cut short.

The 25-year-old has kept just three clean sheets in his 17 appearances for the Giallorossi this season and recently came under fire after being caught smoking—something he was fined for at Arsenal last season.

However, one of his clean sheets was the 0-0 draw with BATE Borisov in the final match of the UEFA Champions League group stage, which saw Roma progress to the next round.

As football writer Conor Kelly notes, Szczesny played a key role in the result with a magnificent save:

Nevertheless, Sirigu is an upgrade on him, and Roma would be wise to recruit defensively if they’re to avoid humiliation in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

With Petr Cech and David Ospina firmly ahead of him in the pecking order at Arsenal, Szczesny no longer has a future at the club, so if he does return to north London in January, he’s likely to be loaned out again or sold if the club can find a suitor.

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