Espanyol director Jose Maria Durna has spoken out on Arsenal’s interest in striker, Raul de Tomas.

With Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah out of contract in June, a striker signing this month made a lot of sense, especially given Lacazette’s poor goalscoring form of late.

And Spanish outlet AS handed the Gunners some hope of landing the Espanyol man on Monday, suggesting that the arrival of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Barcelona would facilitate Arsenal signing Raul de Tomas.

However, those hopes have no firmly been put to bed by Espanyol’s director, who stated that though Arsenal called for De Tomas, the Spanish club did not even want to talk – adding that they will not let the forward go now:

“Arsenal called for Raúl de Tomás but we didn’t even want to talk. We won’t let him go now, no way. His release clause is €75m”


Arsenal to miss out on striker this month?

Elsewhere, 101 covered reports earlier on Monday that claimed Arsenal had seen a €70m bid rejected for Real Sociedad’s Alexander Isak.

With deals for Isak and Raul de Tomas seemingly unlikely, will Arsenal still have time to bring in a new striker before the deadline?

And if they do not, how will Mikel Arteta’s side cope with Alexandre Lacazette, who has scored just two open-play Premier League goals this season, and Eddie Nketiah, as their only out and out striking options for the rest of 2021/22.

Premier League golden boot race: Latest odds and tips 2021/22

Premier League relegation race: Latest odds and tips 2021/22