Arsenal plot £25m move for Dortmund defender

Arsenal are lining up a £25m move for Borussia Dortmund defender Manuel Akanji after talks began over a possible deal in January, reports FussballTransfers.com. 

The 24-year-old has been a regular feature for the Bundesliga side this term, making 20 starts, and returning a WhoScored rating of 6.57. 

Akanji has come on leaps and bounds on the back of his 2017 arrival from Swiss side FC Basel and had been the subject of interest from Arsenal last summer. 

The Gunners were rebuffed in their efforts to land Akanji following Abdou Diallo's move to PSG, yet are confident that a deal can be struck to land the Swiss defender this summer. 

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta is looking to strengthen his defence in the off-season, despite the January loan arrival of Pablo Mari, and the north London side have been linked with a move for Samuel Umtiti, but the Spaniard has a limited budget to work with. 

Akanji is contracted to Dortmund until 2022, so the German side are under no pressure to cash in on the Switzerland international, however are supposedly prepared to listen to offers for the centre-back, who played the full 90 minutes in Dortmund's 4-0 win over Schalke last weekend.