Arsenal are keeping supporters waiting over the confirmation of some very exciting transfer news.
After reaching agreements with West Ham United and Ajax respectively for the signings of Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber last week for a combined fee of £139.2million, the Gunners took a huge step towards completing the double transfer as both players underwent their medicals.
With personal terms not thought to be a problem, an official announcement has been expected to take Arsenal's spend this summer past the £200million mark. However, there's been no confirmation just yet and judging by the responses on social media, there are many fans that believe at least one player - if not both - should have been unveiled by now.
The fact neither has, at the time of writing, effectively confirms they will not feature in the Gunners' pre-season friendly against Nurnberg on Thursday. Not that it's too much of a problem as the plan all along has been for Rice and Timber to be signed in time before the squad heads off to the United States for their pre-season tour on July 16.
As a result, this Sunday is one deadline to get both deals done. Having said that, fans should still feel rather relaxed if the weekend comes and goes with no announcement and the squad touches down in America without the England or Netherlands international in tow.
The reason for this is due to how the Oleksandr Zinchenko transfer unfolded. When recalling his £32million move from Manchester City last summer, it is worth noting that Arsenal were already in the US and had beaten both Everton and Orlando City before he was unveiled as Mikel Arteta's fifth and final signing of the window.
READ MORE: Declan Rice to put three Arsenal stars on notice after completing £105m summer transfer
Granted Man City were also in the States at the time which made the process a lot smoother as the Ukraine international was even spotted in his new training gear alongside Gunners sporting director Edu Gaspar in attendance for one game before going to make his debut against Chelsea in the final fixture of the tour.
So with Arsenal in action against an MLS All-Stars side on July 20, Manchester United on July 22 and Barcelona on July 26 those dates can act as three further deadlines to complete deals for Rice and Timber - if they've not been done so beforehand - to ensure they get some minutes under their belts on the tour.
In any scenario where neither player arrives in America with Arteta and the rest of the squad this Sunday, there's nothing to suggest that plans can't be arranged for them to join up at a later date if needed. Still, the hope amongst fans is that there will be a double announcement by the end of the week.
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