Arsenal back Jerome Boateng loan while they prepare £50m summer move for Dayot Upamecano
Arsenal will reportedly accelerate a move to take Jerome Boateng on loan this month as they plot a summer bid for Dayot Upamecano.
Boateng was linked with Arsenal earlier in the window after Calum Chambers suffered a long term knee injury.
Mikel Arteta even said Chambers' setback would affect any business the Gunners do in January.
Boateng has made ten appearances for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga so far this season.
The 31-year-old has vast experience at the top level - winning seven league titles, a Champions League and a World Cup.
Although his game has lost an edge of pace, Boateng could still offer Arsenal some stability in an area they desperately need to shore up.
According to the Star, Arsenal aim to take Boateng on loan for the rest of the season while they plan a move for Dayot Upamecano come summer.
Upamecano has been a key part of RB Leipzig's defence this season, playing 14 games so far.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Leipzig currently sit atop the Bundesliga table, leading Bayern Munich by four points.
Arsenal reportedly realise it would be almost impossible to prize Upamecano away this month as Leipzig hunt for their first top-flight title.
The North Londoners are understood to have a plan that involves partnering Upamecano with William Saliba in the future.
Saliba is currently on loan at Saint-Etienne and will enter the Arsenal fold next summer.
It's thought that a £50m could force Leipzig to sell Upamecano, whose contract ends in 2021.
READ MORE...
How are the Premier League's top sides doing in the January transfer window?
Adama Traore is taking the Premier League by storm – but his rise hasn't been a simple story