Ben Jacobs: Arsenal now lead race to sign centre-forward after Liverpool talks hit a dead end | OneFootball

Arsenal now lead the race to sign a striker who had been the subject of negotiations from Liverpool, according to Ben Jacobs.

Earlier this month, there were reports that the Reds had made an offer to sign Salford City’s highly coveted teenage striker Will Wright, who was understood to be keen on a move to Merseyside.

However, the pursuit of the 17-year-old has taken a significant turn this week, with the north London club now seemingly in pole position to snap him up.

Ben Jacobs shares Will Wright transfer update

Taking to X on Wednesday night, Jacobs reported (via X) that Arsenal are now the ‘frontrunners’ to sign the prodigious centre-forward after offering the League Two side a higher fee than Liverpool, who are ‘unwilling to match’ what the Gunners have put on the table.

That followed on from an earlier update from Liverpool Echo journalist Theo Squires (via X) that the Reds have ‘ended their interest’ in Wright, having ‘walked away’ from negotiations over a possible deal for the teenager.

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Liverpool won’t be forced into spending more than they feel is justified

LFC have shown this summer that they’re not averse to big spending, having already broken their transfer record to sign Florian Wirtz in a £116m deal and seemingly prepared to go even higher to land Alexander Isak.

FSG will push the boat out when they feel that it’s merited, but it isn’t in their nature to pay what they believe to be over the odds for a player. If the maximum that they’re willing to offer is still too low for the prospective seller, that tends to be the end of the matter.

Having scored more than 50 times at various levels for Salford last season, it’s little wonder that the Premier League elite are interested in snapping up Wright, who despite his tender years has already played against Manchester City’s first team at the Etihad Stadium in an FA Cup tie six months ago.

He appears to have an enormously high ceiling, but ultimately Liverpool aren’t prepared to go as far as Arsenal in terms of the package being offered to the Ammies.

Hopefully it won’t be a cause of regret at Anfield in future years, but we suspect that Reds fans won’t be too dismayed at missing out on the 17-year-old if the Premier League champions were to secure the blockbuster signing of Isak by the end of this summer!