Arsenal to rival Manchester City, AC Milan and Monaco for Premier League full-back's signing - Reports

Arsenal, Manchester City, AC Milan and AS Monaco are all reportedly interested in signing Southampton left-back Ryan Bertrand. The English footballer's contract with the Premier League club expires after the ongoing season.

The 31-year-old moved permanently to Southampton from Chelsea in the 2015 winter transfer window and has since gone on to make 240 appearances for the Saints. Bertrand was linked with an Arsenal move in the January window earlier this year but that didn't materialize.

Now, as per reports in Goal, three more clubs have entered the fray for Bertrand's signature. Arsenal will now have to fight off interest from Manchester City, AS Monaco and AC Milan to complete the full-back's signature.

The report claims that contract renewal talks between Bertrand and Southampton have broken down, putting interested clubs on alert. With the full-back's contract running down in the summer, he will become a free agent after the 2020-21 season.

Thank you pic.twitter.com/0JAvIpMVsr

— Ryan Bertrand (@ryanbertrand3) May 12, 2021

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl recently conceded that Bertrand will not renew his contract with the club.

“We are looking at other targets because the offer we have made has not been accepted from his side,” Hasenhuttl said ahead of Southampton's Premier League clash against Liverpool on Sunday, May 9.

“When there is no solution for the future, we will have to look at other options in this position.”

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Everybody is very willing to join our club: Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta

Arteta is confident that Arsenal will sign all their transfer targets

Arsenal could enter the upcoming transfer window with a huge disadvantage. They are on the cusp of missing out on European football next season. The Gunners are currently eighth in the Premier League table but every club below them has a game or two in hand.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, however, feels the club has maintained its pull from Arsene Wenger's days. Arteta claimed that every player that has been linked with Arsenal is willing to join the club.

“Every player that we have been linked with, or we had some communication with, I haven’t seen one that was refusing to come here. [It’s] completely the opposite. Everybody is very willing to join our club,” the Arsenal manager told the media ahead of their 1-0 win over Chelsea.

Whether or not Arsenal manage to sign all their transfer targets remains to be seen.

💬 "We had an incredible organisation and some big individual performances in there."@m8arteta reflects on our clean sheet in #CHEARS 👇

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 13, 2021