Arsenal are reportedly open to bids for American centre-back Auston Trusty in the upcoming transfer window.
The 24-year-old will soon return to the Gunners on the back of a highly successful loan spell with Birmingham City, where he was named the club's Player of the Season by their supporters.
Trusty ended the 2022-23 season with four goals and two assists from 48 games in all competitions for Blues, chalking up all of those contributions from 44 Championship starts.
The former Colorado Rapids defender scored a brace in a 3-0 triumph over Bristol City back in October, four months before a 97th-minute winner in a pulsating 4-3 success against Swansea City.
Trusty's form in the Championship also attracted the attention of the USA national team, and he made his debut for the Stars and Stripes in a 7-1 CONCACAF Nations League win over Grenada in March, providing an assist for Weston McKennie.
© Reuters
Trusty was deployed as a centre-back and left-back for Birmingham to help ensure their Championship safety, but Blues are unlikely to acquire his services on a permanent basis.
The American seemingly does not have a future at Arsenal, though, and Football Insider claims that Rangers are interested in signing him for the 2023-24 campaign.
The report adds that Arsenal are prepared to entertain offers for Trusty this summer as they try to offload him permanently, meaning that he will depart without having made a single appearance.
The Gunners signed Trusty from Colorado Rapids in 2022, although the transfer was seen as more of an opportunity for Arsenal to build a positive relationship with the MLS side, who are also owned by Stan Kroenke.
Rather than integrate Trusty into the first team, Arsenal loaned him back out to the Rapids for the second half of the 2021-22 season with a view to helping him earn a permanent switch to a European club in the future.
© Reuters
The Gunners paid just €1.8m (£1.6m) to bring Trusty to England from his homeland, and the centre-back was Arsenal's only winter signing during the 2021-22 campaign.
While Trusty might not ever make a name for himself at Arsenal, the Gunners could still try to bolster their defensive ranks this summer, having been left thin on the ground following injuries to William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Rob Holding initially filled the void in the backline, but after a number of shaky displays, the Englishman was demoted in favour of January signing Jakub Kiwior, who joined from Spezia midway through the season.
Mikel Arteta has utilised Ben White as a right-back this term but is supposedly keen to shift him back into the heart of defence for the 2023-24 season, and the Gunners are believed to be looking at Dinamo Zagreb's Josip Sutalo.
The Gunners sit second in the Premier League table ahead of Saturday's trip to Nottingham Forest, where defeat would hand Manchester City the title before they face Chelsea a day later.
