English Premier League club Arsenal FC is rumored to complete the signing of Atletico Madrid center back Jose Gimenez for "only" £40 million as head coach Arsene Wenger is desperate to add defenders to his injury-plagued squad.
Daily Mail Online reported that the Gunners "have opened negotiations with Atletico Madrid" over the 21-year-old Uruguay international as the team's head coach "steps up his pursuit of defensive reinforcements".
At the moment, Wenger is left with young guns Calum Chambers and Rob Holding as his only options at central backfield after injuries recently hit his defensive lineup, namely team captain Per Mertesacker, Gabriel Paulista, and Laurent Koscielny.
Chambers and Holding's inexperience were evident during the team's 3-4 loss to Liverpool at their own home field of Emirates Stadium last Sunday and so Wenger is keen to find suitable defenders who are available for the right price.
There were also rumors that Arsenal has already reached personal terms with Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi, but the two clubs are still negotiating for the release fee that is speculated to be around £30 million.
Meanwhile, Caught Offside noted that while Gimenez has an official release clause of £56 million in his contract, Atletico Madrid is rumored to be ready to sell the Uruguayan center back for only £40 million, but the report did not mention the reason behind the devaluation.
Wenger, who is known for being stingy when it comes to buying players during transfer windows, reportedly saw the opportunity to sign Gimenez for a bargain and so the talks were said to have begun.
Wenger has publicly criticized teams who implement such big-money moves in the past and those who did just recently (for example, Jose Mourinho's world transfer record-breaking £89.3 million deal for Paul Pogba).
As for the player himself, the report said that Gimenez is open to a move to London, but Wenger remains "reluctant to pay said asking price" even as "£40 million is just £2.4 million shy of what they paid for their current record signing, Mesut Özil" in the summer of 2013.
It should also be noted that while Gimenez is young, he is one already an experienced player with 28 senior international caps with Uruguay at only 21 years old.
