Atalanta of Italy defender, Honest Ahanor is facing a tempting offer worth £30.5m from Arsenal of England, as The Gunners appear eager to snatch the youngster in the summer transfer window.
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Sports247 reports that Ahanor, who was born on February 23rd, 2008 in Aversa, Italy, cites Italian ex-international, Paolo Maldini as his football idol and the fast-rising youngster is taking after his role model.
Aside interest from Arsenal, Ahanor is also reportedly attracting attention from Chelsea, Newcastle United and Manchester City, as top teams from the English Premier League aim to outdo one another in snatching the defender.
On their part, Atalanta are determined to keep a hold of the highly-promising defender with Nigerian descent, who is said to be among the ‘most exciting prospects in European football.’
A report by CaughtOffside revealed, “Arsenal are plotting a €35m (£30.5m/$41m) offer as they look to beat Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle United to the signing of Honest Ahanor.
“Arsenal are ‘evaluating a bid worth in the region of €35m,’ with City doing the same. Chelsea, meanwhile, are drawing up a ‘structured deal involving a loan spell’ before integrating Ahanor into their first team.
“However, Atalanta are in no mood to sell their latest talent. They see Ahanor as ‘untouchable’ and want to keep him for at least another season. He is a technically gifted and tactically intelligent defender who is physically robust and quick.
“Despite still being a teenager, Ahanor has quickly become a regular starter for Atalanta, and has scored one goal in 25 appearances this season. He is an 18-year-old defender who mainly plays as a centre-half but can also operate at left-back.
“He developed in the Genoa academy before joining Atalanta for €17m in July last year. Ahanor’s ability to shine as an attacking full-back or as a centre-half makes him a great ‘modern-day defender.”
Interesting information about the youngster on Wikipedia notes in part, “The son of Nigerian parents, Ahanor moved from Campania to Genoa at the age of one and developed entirely within the Italian football system.
“Despite being Italian by upbringing and cultural identity, he has never been eligible to represent Italy at youth level. Under current Italian law, children born in Italy to foreign parents cannot automatically acquire citizenship.
“They may apply only after turning 18, provided they have lived in the country continuously and legally. Ahanor’s case has reignited debate over Italy’s citizenship rules for second-generation immigrants.”
