Man City and Arsenal set for battle over highly-rated Foxes defender

Manchester City and Arsenal are set for a transfer tug-of-war over highly-rated Leicester defender Liam Moore.

Both clubs have kept a close eye on the England under-21 defender, who was instrumental in the Foxes’ rise to the top flight, after an impressive start to life in the Premier League at the King Power Stadium.

The 21-year-old signed a new three-year deal in the summer with Nigel Pearson keen to tie him down after a string of impressive performances.

But that has not stopped City and the Gunners regularly scouting Moore, who can play at both centre-half and right-back.

Manuel Pellegrini is under orders to boost the City squad with more home-grown players and after a few shaky defensive performances, Moore, who helped England’s under-21 side qualify for next summer’s European Championships, fits the bill.

But the Citizens will face stern competition from Arsenal, who are 4/5 for victory against Anderlecht tonight, as they look to strengthen their defensive options in the January transfer window.

Injuries to Mathieu Debuchy and Laurent Koscielny have left the north London club extremely short of cover at the back and after last week’s AGM, manager Arsene Wenger admitted the club would sign a defender in January.

And with Wenger keen on continuing his side’s recent trend of buying top British talent it would be no surprise to see Moore, who was the subject of a £5m bid from Fulham last January, make the switch to the Emirates.

Leicester will be determined to avoid losing their highly-rated star but should a bid in the region of £10m come in for the 6ft 1in defender, Pearson could find it difficult to keep him out of the clutches of the Premier League heavyweights

Arsenal are also reportedly keen on Celtic’s Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk, while they have also been linked with moves for Hull’s Andy Robertson and Ipswich full-back Tyrone Mings.

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