Reports: Chelsea and Arsenal to battle for Premier League defender

What’s the story?

Chelsea and Arsenal in the transfer market this January for defensive reinforcements. replacing David Luiz is the main thing for The Blues while it's the retirement of Per Mertesacker that is the worry for the Gunners.

According to reports in Daily Star, Chelsea and Arsenal have set sights on James Tarkowski. The Burnley defender has been in impressive form this season and has caught the eye of several big clubs.

In case you didn’t know…

David Luiz has been out of the Chelsea squad for a long time now after his fall out with Antonio Conte. The Brazilian is keen on leaving the club and is reportedly in talks with Real Madrid.

Per Mertesacker has already announced that he will be retiring at the end of the season. He is set to join Arsenal as an academy coach after the season ends.

The heart of the matter

Burnley paid just £3.6m for Tarkowski when they signed him from Brentford in February 2016. But The Clarets are reportedly set to demand over £30 million for him,

He has just 18 months left on his current contract and is yet to sign a new one. Reports suggest that he is yet to be offered a new contract but with big clubs interested, Burnley might make it a priority to get him tied down.

Tarkowski was not the first choice of both clubs. Chelsea were keeping an eye on van Dijk while Arsenal wanted to sign David Luiz.

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Tarkowski will surely be a good alternative to David Luiz!

Author’s Take

Chelsea and Arsenal will have to battle it out for the Burnley defender and it will be a tough one. The Clarets are flying high in the league table and will not want to let go of one of their best players at this point of the season.