Arsenal will have space to sign two top players from Europe that have not played in England thanks to William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli. The two youngsters will be registered as homegrown next season, which will give the Gunners a major boost.
Both Saliba and Martinelli joined the club in Edu’s first transfer window as Arsenal’s technical director in 2019. This means that both players will be considered as homegrown due to them being registered in three squads before turning 21-years-old.
The Premier League states that clubs must have at least eight homegrown players. Arsenal have gone further to ensure this with the status of Martinelli and Saliba, which will also allow Edu to strengthen in the summer without the stress about the homegrown factor.
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Arsenal are set to be short in the midfield position in the summer. This is because football.london understands that Roma are expected to make a fresh attempt to sign Granit Xhaka at the end of the season.
This will mean that Thomas Partey would be the only experienced midfielder in the team. Mohamed Elneny’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and Albert Sambi Lokonga still needs time to mature.
The ideal signing for Arsenal seems to feature outside the Premier League. The club have been linked to players such as Houssem Aouar and Fabian Ruiz to solidify the midfield positions.
Both of these players would not be considered as homegrown. However, with the security of the status bought in by Martinelli and Saliba, filling the quota to sign one of these midfielders would not be an issue for Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal will also be in desperate need of a new striker in the summer transfer window, with both Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah 's days looking increasingly numbered. Both players’ contracts are set to expire at the end of the season and they have been linked with a move away from the club.
Crystal Palace are hopeful of signing Nketiah on a free transfer in the summer. Patrick Vieira's failed to bring him at the start of this season, with the two clubs unable to agree on a fee, but this will no longer be an issue.
If he does depart from the club, along with Lacazette, then Folarin Balogun would be the only remaining striker at the club. This means two striker signings may be required to combat the need for greater squad depth if Arsenal secure a return to the Champions League.
Similar to Edu’s midfield targets, the Brazilian striker targets also fall outside of the Premier League and are not considered as homegrown. Jonathan David of Lille and Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix have also been heavily linked to the club, but they are not do fit the homegrown quota, which once again highlights the significance or Martinelli and Saliba’s registration next season
