Arsenal and Tottenham to battle for Pablo Fornals

Bengaluru, March 12: North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham are reportedly set to battle it out for Villarreal star Pablo Fornals.

Reports in England claim that both Unai Emery and Mauricio Pochettino are chasing the 23-year-old midfielder after his eye-catching displays in La Liga this season.

However, it’s added that any move from Arsenal for Fornals rests upon the future of Mesut Ozil. The German pockets a whopping package at the Emirates after he signed a new deal under Arsene Wenger last season.

And despite starring in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Manchester United, Ozil has struggled to nail down a place under Emery.

Arsenal will need to offload the playmaker in order to raise funds for new arrivals. One of those could be Fornals, who Emery will have been aware of during his time at Sevilla.

The youngster can play in a variety of midfield positions and signed for Villarreal two years ago from Malaga, with four goals this season from the middle of the park, including three in the Europa League.

And he may be available for a reasonable price, with funds extremely tight in North London.

However, Spurs are also monitoring Fornals and could have a big transfer kitty to spend after failing to sign a single player since January 2018 due to the completion of their new stadium.

Arsenal earned a crucial 2-0 victory over in-form Manchester United on Sunday night as they keep their top four hopes alive and finishing in top four would be seen as a big success for Unai Emery in his first season considering how stringent his transfer kitty was in the summer.

Fornals is also attracting interest from Liverpool but their interest does not seem as concrete as much as their two rivals from down the south.