Arsenal catch Man Utd off guard as €100m midfielder is watched in widening transfer battle

Arsenal are among the clubs to have joined Manchester United in the race to sign Valencia midfielder Javi Guerra, according to a report.

Tottenham Hotspur have also been brought into the equation by 90min, as have West Ham United, while existing links with Newcastle United have also been confirmed.

Guerra has been named as a target for Man Utd recently after becoming a regular starter for Valencia at the age of just 20. Their scouts are said to have been monitoring his progress at Mestalla.

According to 90min, though, four other Premier League suitors have been keeping an eye on him as well. Arsenal, Tottenham, Newcastle and West Ham have all been mentioned as observers of his progress.

In fact, the report claims those four clubs had representatives watching Guerra playing for Spain’s under-21s against Scotland recently, whereas Man Utd did not.

Barcelona are also listed as historic admirers of Valencia’s no.8, who has a €100m (£87.3m) release clause in his contract that lasts until 2027.

Arsenal already strengthened their midfield in the summer by breaking their transfer record to sign Declan Rice from West Ham. However, they sold Granit Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen in the same window. Moreover, at the end of the current season, Jorginho and Mohamed Elneny will reach the ends of their contracts.

Across north London at Tottenham, a need for more depth in midfield will become apparent if Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr go to the Africa Cup of Nations over the winter, when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is also being linked with a transfer away to a new club.

West Ham, of course, lost Rice in the summer, but replenished the same department by bringing in Edson Alvarez from Ajax and James Ward-Prowse from Southampton.

Finally, Newcastle invested heavily in Sandro Tonali, but the former AC Milan star looks set for a lengthy ban due to gambling offences while he was still in Italy.

Valencia aiming to keep Guerra

Valencia are not feeling the pressure to give up Guerra on the cheap. He has been with the club since 2019 and a member of their senior team since earlier this year.

Since he is just 20 appearances into his spell with the first team, Valencia want to benefit from his talent for a while longer, especially considering the fact he has scored four goals for them already in his blossoming career (including three from nine appearances this season).

Valencia’s sporting director, Miguel Angel Corona, recently told the Daily Mail: “We are fully aware that we have a player with enormous potential for the future and the ability to perform at a good level now.

“That is why the club have decisively moved him up to the first team in recent months. It is not in our plans to sell him to any club.”

Money talks, of course, but the report does not mention how much any of Guerra’s admirers would be willing to put on the table.

READ MORE: Newcastle urged to sign Arsenal ‘top talent’ as January sale remains a possibility for £60m star