Report: Arsenal Eyes Atletico's Jose Gimenez With Stefan de Vrij Out of Reach

Arsenal are reportedly targeting Atletico Madrid defender Jose Gimenez, after admitting defeat in their pursuit of Lazio's Stefan de Vrij.

Arsenal are reportedly targeting Atletico Madrid defender Jose Gimenez, after admitting defeat in their pursuit of Lazio's Stefan de Vrij.

The Gunners want to now focus on the Gimenez, with Liverpool the front-runners to sign the Dutch international, who is out of contract this summer and won't be signing a new deal as confirmed by the club's sporting director Igli Tare.

The 23-year-old Gimenez has re-established himself as a regular under Diego Simeone after a recent spell on the substitutes' bench, and has been impressive for los Cholchoneros in La Liga.

As reported by El Gol Digital, Atleti would command a fee of £57.3m for Gimenez, which is about the same as what Manchester City paid Athletic Bilbao for Aymeric Laporte who is the same age.

Arsenal need to - and are expected to - strengthen their defense this summer after yet another season of fragility at the back.

The Gunners have the worst defensive record in the top six, and Laurent Koscielny's age and record injury record are not encouraging. Calum Chambers and Rob Holding have also come under fire this term, and Shkodran Mustafi put in a worryingly poor performance against Arsenal during the 3-0 Carabao Cup final defeat.

Added to that the impending retirement of Per Mertesacker, and the need is abundantly clear for Arsenal that this is a player they need.

Gimenez has made 26 appearances in all competitions this season and has forged an impressive partnership with one of Europe's best centre-halves in Diego Godin. 

Atleti sit second having lost just one La Liga game, and have conceded just 11 goals in 25 games.