Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is plotting to hijack Liverpool’s bid to buy £15million England winger Stewart Downing from Aston Villa.
Wenger will swoop for Downing, 26, as a ready-made replacement for Frenchman Samir Nasri, who will complete a £25m move to Manchester City when he returns from Arsenal’s pre-season tour to Asia.
Arsenal’s manager has vowed to keep Nasri at the Emirates but the 24-year-old has just a year left on his Arsenal contract and sources close to the deal are convinced a move will be agreed.
While Wenger will have to cope with another high-profile departure when Barcelona make a final and almost certainly decisive £35 m bid for club captain Cesc Fabregas, the Arsenal manager has been authorised by his directors to spend the full £60 m Arsenal are expected to raise from selling their two stars.
Downing is in line to be the first, with the prospect of Champions League football giving Arsenal a significant advantage over Liverpool.
Capped 27 times by England since his debut against Holland in February 2005, he joined Villa only two years ago following the relegation of his first club Middlesbrough.
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