Sevilla say Gunners’s bid for Baptista ‘close’
The 23-year-old is thought to prefer a move to another Spanish club but Del Nido has confirmed Arsenal have upped the stakes.
Del Nido revealed: “We still have not concluded an agreement between both clubs but what I can say is that Arsenal are getting close to the financial figure we could accept.
“They have already more than doubled the €12 million they started with and it would surpass the fee we got for the sale of [Jose Antonio] Reyes. But obviously the agreement is between three parties.”
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said: “We are in no-mans land at the moment. I am very keen to get Baptista. He has great strength and can play up front or midfield. He is versatile and can score goals.
“However, there are a lot of ingredients in there. The situation is quite positive with the club, the problem is we haven’t sorted it out with the player.”
But Wenger dismissed reports he is interested in signing Edgar Davids or Olivier Dacourt.
However, former Gunners hero Paul Davis warned against expecting Baptista to replace the departed Patrick Vieira.
He said: “Baptista and Jermaine Jenas are more attacking midfielders than Patrick and are not like-for-like alternatives. They’re slightly different players. I haven’t seen Baptista in action but I understand he’s played as a striker.
“I know a bit more about Jenas. He’s a young player who is learning his trade but is completely different from Patrick, who is at the top of his game. I’m not sure either of them are the right player to come in, short term anyway.
“It’s going to be a big, big gap to fill. We need someone of his stature in there. But if anyone can solve the problem, it’s Arsene. He normally comes up with something, although this one is very difficult because they’re such big shoes to fill.”
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