Arsenal lose out on 20-year-old midfield target to Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid are close to securing a deal for Elche midfielder Rodrigo Mendoza, beating Arsenal and Barcelona to his signature, according to reports.

The 20-year-old is a highly regarded talent in Spain, having earned promotion to La Liga with Elche and continuing to star in the top flight this season.

Mendoza has played 16 times this campaign, scoring twice, taking his professional tally for Elche to six goals in 67 appearances across all competitions.

He has long been part of the Spain set-up at youth level, playing for every age range up to Under-21s and played in the Under-20 World Cup in Chile last year.

In November it was reported that Arsenal were keeping tabs on the youngster and considering a January bid to bring him to north London.

Real Madrid were also linked with a move for Mendoza at the time, while there was also thought to be interest from Italy.

However, Sky Sport’s Gianluca Di Marzio reports that Atletico Madrid have won the packed race to sign the midfielder, with an agreement reached.

The report states that Atletico have done a deal for just €16m (£13.8m), with Mendoza agreeing a contract until 2031.

Arsenal had interest in Mendoza before the serious injury suffered by Mikel Merino, but missing out on him may sting more due to the setback for the versatile Spain international.

The midfielder and sometime striker has suffered a fractured foot and could miss the entirety of the rest of the season as a result.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta strongly hinted that the Gunners could make a deadline day move to sign a replacement for Merino, but that has not come to pass.

‘Of course. When you lose a big player like this in the squad, with four months to go and other competitions to play for, you need to look,’ Arteta told a press conference on Monday afternoon.

‘We need to do everything that we possibly can to see if we have a player that is available. If we don’t, OK, we keep what we have.

‘At this level, especially for four months, you have to bring a player who has the capacity to adapt immediately and impact the team. That’s not easy but if it was easy we wouldn’t be here. We need to find solutions and try.’