Summer swoop is still very much ON, but Liverpool and Arsenal’s chances of landing a top Wolves talent slide in January are slim…
Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta remain open to January incomings, if the right offer presents itself, but it appears they will have to wait at least six months to get the Molineux man on board.
The Premier League rivals are both said to be considering a potential swoop for the left-back as they aim to improve defensive depth.
Ait-Nouri, 22, has made a major impression at Wolves since arriving at the club from French side Angers as a teenager back in 2020.
Wolves were forced to balance the books when they offloaded Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes to the Saudi Pro League and Manchester City last summer, but are still reportedly open to offers for other key men.
However, while Football Insider reports that Ait-Nouri is all but certain to remain at Molineux beyond the February 1 transfer deadline, a summer exit remains a harsh reality.
Indeed, Liverpool and Arsenal are already thought to have laid the groundwork for the deal.
Klopp wants another left-back option on his books, with Andrew Robertson expected to be back in action towards the end of this month.
The 29-year-old Scotland international has been sidelined since mid-October following a dislocated shoulder sustained on international duty.
As for the Gunners, it appears that Arteta is ready to move on from Kieran Tierney, as TEAMtalk previously revealed.
As for Ait-Nouri, the talented defender is currently away with Algeria at the African Cup of Nations.
He has racked up 19 appearances across all competitions for Wolves so far in the 2023/24 campaign.
DON’T MISS: One player from every Premier League club who urgently needs a January transfer: Man Utd winger, £30m Arsenal signing…
Wolves can command high fee for £24m-rated Ait-Nouri
The Molineux outfit are, however, in a strong position when it comes to demanding a large fee for one of their star performers.
Ait-Nouri is under contract at Molineux until June 2026, with Wolves also having the option to extend that deal a further 12 months.
The full-back star has made 97 appearances for the club since joining on an initial loan in 2020, also scoring four goals in that time.
He is currently valued at €28million (£24m), although Wolves will almost certainly ask for more than that.
The one boost for both Liverpool and Arsenal though, is that the Molineux outfit have shown they are more than willing to accept the right offers for their star players.
As well as losing Neves and Nunes, they also offloaded Raul Jimenez and Nathan Collins to Fulham and Brentford respectively last summer.