Arsenal and Liverpool on red alert as £10.6m Lazio ace hands in transfer request

Both Liverpool and Arsenal are said to be interested in signing Keita Balde Diao

ARSENAL and Liverpool have been alerted to news Lazio striker Keita Balde Diao has handed in a transfer request, according to reports.

 

The Premier League duo are said to have trailed 20-year-old Keita this summer.

It is thought a £10.6million offer would be enough to bring Lazio to the negotiating table.

 

And the Barcelona academy product appears ready to force through a move after reacting angrily to being dropped for Lazio's Italian Super Cup clash with Juventus last weekend, Football Italia quote Corriere dello Sport as reporting.

Lazio lost the game 2-0 in Shanghai, which saw Mario Mandzukic and Paulo Dybala bags the goals.

 

And Keita didn't even get a run out, with Gazzetta claiming manager Stefano Pioli is happy to see him leave this summer.

Arsenal were said to be keen on the player during the off-season and manager Arsene Wenger revealed yesterday the club may make a signing before deadline day.

"If an exceptional solution turns up, we will do it," he said.

"But after a defeat like that, it is important not always to think we take a solution from outside."

Meanwhile, Liverpool have been touted as moving for Spaniard Keita since late June as they seek to offload Mario Balotelli and Fabio Borini from their books.