Arsenal Transfer News: N'Golo Kante, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Latest Rumours

Arsenal have reportedly been given a boost in their pursuit of Leicester City defensive midfielder N’Golo Kante after the Foxes told the Frenchman he can leave the club if they can line up a replacement.

The Gunners are among several clubs—including Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur—reportedly chasing the 25-year-old, and thus could face a transfer battle to sign him if Leicester are indeed prepared to let him go, per the Mirror's Adrian Kajumba. 

Meanwhile, according to Jack Wilson in the Daily Star, Arsenal are also "taking an active interest" in Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is set to be a free agent in the summer.

Wilson added that Arsenal are aware they will have to offer him a huge contract and make him the club's highest-paid player—Manchester United are reportedly prepared to offer him a £250,000-a-week deal—but that "might not put off [manager Arsene] Wenger" as they won't have to pay a transfer fee.

The addition of Kante and Ibrahimovic would solve key problems currently in the Arsenal squad.

Though Francis Coquelin is a reliable presence in the deep-lying midfield role and Mohamed Elneny has made an encouraging start to his Arsenal career, the Gunners are still lacking a real enforcer in the middle of the park.

Kante has proved this season that he can cause attackers all kinds of problems, consistently interrupting opposition forays forward, per ITV Football (h/t Oulala Fantasy Footy):

Given that Arsenal's defence is not the most reliable, Kante would add further protection for the back four while also freeing up the Gunners' more attacking central midfielders—Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla—to go forward more.

Furthermore, he reportedly has a release clause of just £20 million, making him more than affordable even for the famously frugal Gunners, per Laurie Whitwell in the Daily Mail.

Thibault Camus/Associated Press

Similarly with Ibrahimovic, despite him being 34 years old, his arrival at the Emirates Stadium would immediately solve the Gunners' goalscoring problem.

Arsenal have scored the fewest goals of the Premier League's current top four this season, with Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott both underwhelming, netting 17 goals between them in the English top flight, and just two apiece since the turn of the year, per WhoScored.com.

Ibra, meanwhile, has 32 Ligue 1 goals in 27 appearances—while also providing 13 assists—per WhoScored.

He also has the know-how of winning titles, something currently lacking for the majority of the Arsenal squad, per Bleacher Report UK:

The Swede's career may be drawing to an end, but he is still more than capable of performing at the highest level. If Arsenal could sign him to a short-term contract, he may be just the man they need to finally win the Premier League title again.

Elsewhere, West Ham United have reportedly dropped their interest in Gunners midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as their priority signing for the summer is a new striker, per Darren Lewis in the Mirror.

As recently reported by Bleacher Report's Dean Jones, though, the Hammers are not the only club to have shown an interest in the Englishman, with Manchester United also reportedly keen to sign him:

Oxlade-Chamberlain, 22, has failed to make the progress many expected of him after he showed great promise as a teenager, and Arsenal may decide that it is time to get him off their books this summer, especially if a decent offer comes in from elsewhere.