Arsenal transfer news: Gunners monitoring Argentine international Guido Rodriguez
The midfielder only joined Real Betis last January, but is already being closely watched by bigger clubs
Arsenal will look to strengthen their midfield by signing Guido Rodriguez from Real Betis this summer.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the Argentine international’s dominant performances for Manuel Pellegrini’s side have sparked interest from Arsenal.
Rodriguez only arrived at Betis last January, signing from Mexican side Club America for just €3million.
His value has spiralled since then, having consistently demonstrated his quality in a much more competitive league.
He has made 28 appearances for Betis this season, as they reached the quarter-finals of the Copa Del Rey and set their sights on qualifying for Europe.
They are currently sixth in La Liga, level on points with Real Sociedad a place above them, albeit on a negative goal difference having suffered some heavy defeats at the start of the season.
Although Arsenal successfully captured Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey in October, the Ghanaian midfielder has been in and out of the team through injury.
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Without a consistent run of games, he has been unable to influence Mikel Arteta’s side as supporters had hoped.
The Arsenal manager maintains his belief in Partey, but signing Rodriguez would certainly help to lessen the burden on him.
Rodriguez has a release clause of €80million in his contract, which runs until June 2024, but the Gunners would be reluctant to pay that much.
Aside from the deals for Partey and Gabriel, they were not big spenders in the transfer market last year, and shifted on several high-earning fringe players during January, including Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi.
Rodriguez, who turns 27 next month, made his debut for Argentina against Brazil in 2017 and has won a further nine caps since then.
He was part of the squad that finished third in the Copa America two years ago after being knocked out by the eventual champions.
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