City to insist on swap deal if Arsenal bid for Negredo

Negredo

Manchester City will ask for Arsenal striker Joel Campbell to be included in any deal proposed by the Gunners for Blues hitman Alvaro Negredo, Football Express News can reveal.

A source close to the Etihad Stadium told FEN that La Liga champions Atletico Madrid are leading the race for the Spain international but City are waiting to see if the north London side renew their interest, after receiving an enquiry earlier this year.

In April Arsenal were looking to capitalise on the 28-year-old’s alarming loss of form and asked their rivals about his availability, according to the club insider.

The Premier League champions are reluctant to lose him at all but have set an asking price of £24m – which is £8m more than they paid Sevilla for his services 12 months ago.

Arsenal will not splash out that kind of money on a man who has not found the back of the net since January, but FEN understands City will listen to an offer which consists of a lower fee with the inclusion of Costa Rica forward Campbell.

He spent last season on loan at Greek giants Olympiacos, scoring against Manchester United in the Champions League, and showed flashes of his talent in the World Cup.

Negredo raced to a 16-goal tally before Christmas for Manuel Pellegrini’s side and added 10 more before the end of January but then failed to score for the rest of the campaign.