Arsenal are favourites to sign Italian defender Angelo Ogbonna in the summer. The 24-year-old has also interested Premier League rivals Liverpool and Manchester United. The Metro reports the Gunners have already spoken to Torino over a summer move. Ogbonna caught the eye of English scouts after a fine performance in the international friendly against England in August.

Angelo Ogbonna (Source - Torino FC)
Torino FC

The Serie A club value Ogbonna at £17m but Arsenal will hope to sign their target for less. They do, however, have a reported £70m to spend in the summer. Ogbonna will be a welcome addition to the Gunners' back line, which has seen Johan Djourou leave on loan and Sebastien Squillaci clearly unwanted. Belgian international Thomas Vermaelen is the club captain and key central defender but links to Barcelona mean his future in north London remains uncertain.

However, Ogbonna's arrival may be continent on Arsenal qualifying for the Champions League. At present, Wenger's mean are fifth and they trail local rivals Tottenham (who occupy the final qualifying position for Champions League next season) by four points. Ogbonna has been quoted as saying he would prefer a move to a club in Europe's elite tournament. The defender has had an injury-hit season so far. He has only 12 Serie A starts.

Wenger on Transfer Money

Meanwhile, Wenger has confirmed he has money to spend in the summer. The Frenchman has come under immense pressure to spend big money in the transfer period and was strongly linked with a move for World Cup-winning Spain striker David Villa in the January window. However, nothing came of that link and the only addition, an enforced one, was the signing of Malaga left-back Nacho Monreal.

"We are in a stronger situation where we can spend some money. I'm not reluctant to do so. First of all, we only had money recently. We went out to spend money at Christmas but we didn't find the players," he said.

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