Premier League Opening Day is this Friday, August 21st but Transfer Deadline Day is still several weeks away, Tuesday, September 1st. Between now and then, I’d expect several outgoings and at least one additional incoming at Arsenal. Andrea Berta still has plenty of work to do on both the buying and selling side of the ledger.
The Gunners have plenty of room to improve this season if the players they already have are able to stay fitter. Kai Havertz, Martin Ødegaard, and Bukayo Saka all missed significant chunks of the campaign. Riccardo Calafiori missed his customary swath of matches, too. That’s a lot of attacking firepower that was either unavailable or well off top form and fitness when they did play. Declan Rice played the last month-plus of the season through some kind of posterior chain issue. Martin Zubimendi didn’t get hurt but did run out of gas.
The flip side of that is both William Saliba and Jurrien Timber will start the season out of the lineup. Saliba is recovering from a back fracture that will keep him out well into the season. Estimates have him returning anywhere in the October to December range. Timber had a minor surgery to repair a groin problem that kept him out of the World Cup. It looks as if he’ll return sometime just before or after the first international break, which begins on September 21st.
Those two absences create one of Arsenal’s biggest needs before the close of the window — cover on the right side of the defense. The squad could also use another attacker. There have been suggestions the Gunners are exploring the possibility of adding a striker. The front office handled the need in central midfield.
Let’s take a look at the completed business and some of the prominent rumors / links to fill those needs.
Confirmed Buys
Christos Tzolis, LW, announced July 23rd, £34M fee from Club Brugge – the skilled Greek winger has had an excellent preseason tallying 6 assists, including two in the Community Shield, and adding a goal against Girona. It looks as if he’ll be the first-choice left winger to start the Premier League season.
Bruno Guimaraes CM, announced August 8th, £75M fee from Newcastle – the Brazilian central midfielder adds creativity, steel, and perhaps most importantly, another capable body (along with Myles Lewis-Skelly) in the center of the park to help keep Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi fresh.
Piero Hincapie, LB, announced June 25th, £34.5M fee from Bayer Leverkusen – the Ecuadorian defender’s loan was made permanent early in the summer, as expected. The move was structured as a loan with a conditional option to buy for accounting purposes. The conditions were structured in such a way that, for all intents and purposes, the permanent move was a done deal.
Illan Meslier – GK, announced July 9th, free transfer from Leeds United – the Frenchman joined Arsenal to serve as the 2nd / 3rd keeper, with Kepa Arrizabalaga being linked with a potential move away. While those rumors have cooled, Arsenal adding Meslier allows highly-rated Tommy Setford to go out on loan for first-choice minutes elsewhere.
Confirmed Sales
Leandro Trossard, LW, £15M to Besiktas – the Belgian winger was expected to leave North London this summer and he has. I’d bet that Arsenal would have been happy to keep him at the club on, say, a two-year + option deal, but the 31-year old wanted a bit more term on what could be his last significant contract. It’s a pretty good return for a player his age entering the final year of his contract.
Jakub Kiwior, CB, £14.7M to FC Porto – the Polish defender had an excellent season in Portugal, so Porto exercised the purchase option in his loan deal. Arsenal will get a further £1.7M if Porto sell him on.
Christian Norgaard, CM, £7M to Everton – a move that makes sense for everyone involved. Arsenal recoup most of the £10M spent last summer to purchase the Danish midfielder. He admitted that going from being an every-match player to hardly playing at all was difficult and that he wanted to move to a club where he’d play more. We’ll always have his lovely announcement video and he’ll always be a Premier League champion!
Karl Hein, GK, £2.5M to Werder Bremen – the German side triggered their purchase option in his loan agreement.
Incoming Transfer Rumors
The Gunners spent several weeks pursuing Vinicius Junior before the Brazilian winger signed a new contract to remain at Real Madrid. The front office was reportedly ready to break the transfer record and wage structure to sign the star winger.
As mentioned above, Arsenal are in the market for right-sided defensive cover and attacking reinforcement.
Julian Alvarez – the Gunners have been linked with a move for the Atleti attacker for most of the summer, although it does not appear likely to happen. The Argentine reportedly wants to move to Barcelona, not Arsenal. Atleti don’t seem particularly willing to sell him to a domestic rival.
Victor Osimhen – Arsenal have been vaguely linked with the Nigerian striker for several years and those links have warmed back up in the last few days. There had been talk of a potential swap deal involving Gabriel Martinelli, but the Brazilian winger reportedly made it clear to Arsenal that he is not interested in a move to Turkey. Either way, Osimhen’s Galatasaray wages might be a sticking point — the striker makes nearly £310K per week, which would make him the highest earner at Arsenal.
Bradley Barcola – the Gunners were briefly linked with the wantaway PSG winger, but the French international seems likely to head to Liverpool if he moves at all.
As for other attackers, the Gunners have been linked with Inter Milan striker Pio Esposito, Bayer Leverkusen striker Christian Kofane, Everton winger Illiman Ndiaye, Manchester United winger Marcus Rashford, Juventus winger Kenan Yildiz, and Chelsea winger Pedro Neto (yuck).
Ezri Konsa – the Aston Villa defender has felt like the likeliest target to move to North London to provide short-term cover on the right side of the defense, but Villa are reportedly sticking to their £60M valuation, which is about £20M more than where the Gunners reportedly value him. If he moves, I doubt it is for less than £50M, which is a lot of money to pay for a 28-year old stopgap, even if he has the quality to be a true rotation player. Plus, the longer it takes to make the move, the less value Arsenal get from it because their defenders will be that much closer to returning.
Jarell Quansah – Bayer Leverkusen recently “made it known” that the English defender is not for sale at any price this summer. The former Liverpool man had an excellent second half of the season in Germany, taking a big step forward in his development, and becoming a significantly more effective player than he was for the Reds.
Joules Koundé – the 27-year old Frenchman is the latest right-sided defender to be (somewhat) credibly linked with Arsenal. He’s under contract through 2030 with Barcelona, which doesn’t give them (or the player) much incentive to move.
Marc Pubill – the 23-year old Atletico Madrid starter was briefly linked, but the Spanish side reportedly pointed to his 500M release clause and refused to negotiate. I don’t think Arsenal will be making a 501M bid.
Maxi Araujo – Mikel Arteta was reportedly impressed with the Uruguayan’s performances against Arsenal in the Champions League. I guess he admired the defender’s ability to commit a bunch of fouls without being booked. The links have cooled since earlier in the summer. Crucially, Araujo is a left-side defender, which doesn’t solve Arsenal’s right-side depth problem.
Arsenal have also been linked with Werder Bremen’s Abdoul Karim Coulibaly, Club Brugge’s Joaquin Seys, and Como’s Jacobo Ramon.
Outgoing Transfer Rumors
Mikel Arteta and Arsenal turned heads when all three of Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, and Ethan Nwaneri were not included in the Community Shield matchday squad. The manager said after the match that they are “important players” and it was due to squad size rules.
Ethan Nwaneri – it seems increasingly likely that Nwaneri won’t spend this season in North London, although judging by Mikel Arteta’s comments, he’d prefer the young attacker go out on loan again and actually play this time around. Last January’s loan to Marseille was tough with Roberto De Zerbi leaving the French club a few weeks after the loan went through. AC Milan have been mentioned as both a loan destination and a potential permanent buyer. Roma have been linked, as well. Galatasaray have been mentioned too, which is interesting given Arsenal’s reported interest in Victor Osimhen. You could squint your eyes and justify a move to Italy. I really can’t see a 19-year old England youth international moving to Turkish football.
Gabriel Martinelli – the Brazilian winger’s camp informed Arsenal he was not interested in a move to Galatasaray after the Turkish side submitted a £38.4M offer. There have been reports of interest from Napoli in the last few days, too. Newcastle and Aston Villa have been passingly mentioned but more as clubs that should be interested rather than clubs that necessarily are interested. Martinelli seems the most likely sale of any prominent Arsenal player, although his £180K weekly wage compared with his one league goal is a tough sell. He did bag a bunch of goals in the Champions League, though.
Myles Lewis-Skelly – there were reports last week that the 19-year old midfielder had been offered to Chelsea and Manchester United, but the more reliable outlets confirmed that he’d not been officially shopped to anybody. It doesn’t strike me as particularly likely the Gunners will sell him, especially after his strong performances down the stretch last season, in preseason, and in the Community Shield. He’s under contract through 2030.
Gabriel Jesus – the Brazilian striker has been heavily linked with a move to Napoli. According to some reports, the Italian side are, once again, crying poverty at the combination of the transfer fee and the Brazilian’s wages. Other reports have the move as essentially a done deal at £17M.
Viktor Gyokeres – the Swedish striker has been linked with a move to Atletico Madrid, seemingly as part of a swap deal involving Julian Alvarez. In the last day or two, there have been rumors that Barcelona might be eyeing a bid. I don’t think Big Vik will be anywhere other than North London this season. Next summer, though…
Martin Zubimendi – apparently new Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso really admires the Spanish midfielder and wants to bring him across London to replace Enzo Fernandez should he move to Manchester City. Real Madrid have reportedly been in contact with Zubimendi’s camp, too. The reporting says that Arsenal are open to selling the Spanish midfielder after just one season in North London if the price is right. I highly doubt Zubimendi is going anywhere.
Any other rumors floating around out there that have caught your eye? What players do you think Arsenal should be looking at buying / selling?