ESPANYOL have told Arsenal they will have to pay £62million for Raul de Tomas, according to reports.

The Gunners are desperate to add some firepower to their squad, after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was ousted from the squad.

The Gabon striker is also believed to be a transfer target for Barcelona, who are said to be in talks with the former Borussia Dortmund hitman.

Now, Mikel Arteta has turned his attention to Spain striker de Tomas, with Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette set to be out of contract at the end of the season too.

De Tomas is having an impressive season in LaLiga, with the 27-year-old netting 12 goals in 21 appearances for Espanyol this term.

These include strikes against Real Madrid and Atletico. While he has scored in his last four appearances.

That means Espanyol won't allow their marksman to leave on the cheap.

According to Italian transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, if Arsenal want to sign him this window they will have to stump up the cash for his full release clause.

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Romano tweeted: "Espanyol director José María Durán to Esport 3: 'Arsenal called for Raúl de Tomás but we didn’t even want to talk. We won’t let him go now, no way. His release clause is €75m'."

Mikel Arteta would ideally like to have a new centre forward recruited today to bolster his side's push for a top four place.

But a transfer will reportedly depend on whether they can shift Aubameyang to Barcelona.

According to AS, Arsenal are interested in Espanyol hitman Raul de Tomas – but won't pay his £58million release clause.

Should they offload Aubameyang, however, the Gunners may intensify negotiations for De Tomas.

They add that an agreement was reached between Aubameyang and Barcelona a number of days ago.

There is still some way to go for Arsenal and Barcelona to agree terms, however.

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