Gunners set sights on French forward Fekir

LONDON: Arsene Wenger wants Nabil Fekir (pic) in a £45mil (RM246mil) deal, according to reports.

The Gunners chief has been keeping tabs on the Lyon forward, who has been compared to France legend Youri Djorkaeff.

And the Daily Mail claims Wenger wants a deal done before Fekir, 24, joins his international teammates at the World Cup.

Djorkaeff inspired his nation on home soil in 1998 and won the European Championships two years later.

And Fekir will be hoping to do the same in Russia after scoring in Lyon’s 3-1 Europa League win over Villarreal on Thursday.

Since Alexandre Lacazette joined the Gunners, the playmaker has been his club’s star man.

He has upped his strike rate with 16 league goals in just 22 games. And Fekir has also chipped in with six assists as well as key strikes in Europe – including a penalty against Everton.

Lyon are desperate to keep him at the club but the Gunners’ Lacazette swoop proved the Ligue 1 outfit are open to business at the right price.

Fekir has also been linked with Liverpool and Barcelona among others but Real Madrid appears to be his dream destination.

Asked about working with Zinedine Zidane, the ambitious ace gushed: “If tomorrow he calls me, I would never refuse him.

“That’s in the back of my mind, too. It’s good that I’m at Lyon today. It’s a very big club.

“But I want to aim for the top. Barca, Real, Bayern, PSG. Why not?

“You have to be ambitious and I am ... so we’ll see what happens.”