Arsenal's technical director Edu will be looking to strengthen Mikel Arteta's side this summer as the pair continue to work on the club's rebuild.
With five games of their Premier League season to go, the Gunners are in pole position to secure Champions League football next campaign. Qualifying for the prestigious competition will only make them standout to potential new players that little bit more, but even if they fail to get over the line, we're likely to witness a busy summer in north London.
It's expected that the Gunners will focus on bringing in two marquee names in over the course of the next transfer window, one of whom could be Roma forward, Tammy Abraham.
READ MORE: Arsenal news and transfers LIVE: Serge Gnabry return, Ruben Neves verdict, Nicolas Pepe deadline
As previously reported, the Gunners will target two centre-forwards. football.london understands that Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus and Abraham are among the shortlisted profiles who could arrive at Emirates Stadium. The latter of the two has scored 15 goals in Italy this season and was previously the subject of enquiries from Arsenal in January. However, football.london has learned that Roma have slapped an asking price of €80million (£67million) on Abraham, which is likely to scare away many of his potential suitors.
Even if the clubs agree on a fee, the club, and most importantly, Arteta, will need to persuade the Englishman to join the project in north London. Seemingly, the way to do that, is to believe in him like Jose Mourinho and Frank Lampard have.
“Jose is for me one of the best coaches to walk on the planet; he knows how to really drive you,” Abraham said ahead of Roma's Europa Conference League clash with Leicester on Thursday night, as cited by the Guardian. “This is what I needed. I needed someone who could push me and really drive me. He always wants more. For me and the players he is the perfect manager.
“For me it was all about someone believing in me. Frank Lampard gave me a chance, he believed in me, showed real faith in me, and that’s when I was producing.
“It is the same with the coach now. When you have belief from the manager, it makes you want to do the best you can. It is all about confidence really. Coming off the back of a difficult season at Chelsea where I wasn’t really playing games to coming here and shining again, it’s like a dream come true.”
As Abraham is loving life in the Serie A and the reported fee could be too high, it's going to be a difficult transfer for Arsenal to complete. They'll need every ounce of persuasion they can find, and Arteta - along with Champions League football - could be the key to any final play in a potential deal.
