Football News: Ibrahima Bamba agent plays down talks of imminent Arsenal move

Ibrahima Bamba, a midfielder for Vitoria de Guimaraes, has been linked to a transfer to Arsenal. However, his agent has cleared things up and played that rumour down while Arsenal search for a midfielder continues.

Leandro Trossard, an attacker, and Jakub Kiwior, a defender, have both signed with the Gunners thus far this month. They are coming from Spezia and Brighton & Hove Albion, respectively.

Mikel Arteta has acknowledged his desire to add a new center-midfielder to his roster. However, with just less than a week left in the January transfer window Arteta needs to act quickly.

"Well, we need some more cover in midfield ideally if we can but obviously, in this market, it's very complicated to do that,"

Arteta told reporters on Wednesday.

"But as I always say the most important thing is that we get the performances and the time on the pitch that we need with the players we have available today that are already really good."

Declan Rice of West Ham United is reportedly the Gunners' top target, but a potential high-profile transfer will probably have to wait until the summer.

In addition to Bamba, 20, who has lately come to light as the newest name on their radar, other players like Moises Caicedo of Brighton, Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad, and Amadou Onana of Everton have also been linked with Arsenal.

According to reports in Portugal, Bamba's agent Filipe Macedo Alves travelled to LondonIn order to meet with Arsenal in preparation for the midfielder's 'imminent' transfer.

Alves has acknowledged that he recently visited London, but he has shot down rumours that Bamba may join the Arsenal in January, stating that he travels frequently to stay in touch with all of his clients.

Speaking to O Jogo as quoted by the Evening Standard, Alves said:

"It's true that I was in London, but I am just arriving from Germany, where I was watching Edmond Tapsoba's game. Bamba is not the only player I work with."

"He's a player profile that is clearly of interest to many clubs, but today he is a Vitoria player and is only focused on Monday's game in Chaves. The market is open, but I'm not going to feed rumours."

Bamba was raised in Italy and progressed through the Pro Vercelli programme before joining Vitoria in 2020.

Since making his professional debut in February of last year, the defensive midfielder has appeared 30 times in all competitions, including 15 starts in the Primeira Liga this year.

Roberto Mancini, the manager of Italy, also noticed Bamba's recent success and summoned the youngster up to a 53-man training camp in May of last year.

Bamba's contract with Vitoria runs through June 2026, so the club is not under any immediate pressure to let him go, but it is believed that it contains a €30 million (£26.3 million) release clause.

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