There are just three weeks remaining of the summer transfer window and it's been a busy one so far for Arsenal. The Gunners have already spent well over £100million pounds on Matt Turner, Marquinhos, Fabio Vieira, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, but they are still expecting more action in the coming days.
"It’s incredible how much business the club has already done across the Premier League and it shows how competitive this is. It’s not gonna stop that," Mikel Arteta said last week. "Players are going to have to leave, some others to move and everything is open still."
While the Spaniard's primary focus will be on getting Arsenal off to as good a start in the Premier League as possible, Edu will be concentrating on the club's transfer activity over the next few weeks. With that in mind football.london takes a look at where we stand and what could still happen in the closing stages of the window.
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Outgoings
With so much business already done, Arsenal's primary focus is currently on outgoings. The club have already admitted that their squad is too large and they are expecting several exits in the coming days.
"We have a large squad," Arteta said last month. "We have to make some decisions on the players that we're not going to be using consistently and be fair and straight with them and that's a process that is going to start very soon as well. We have to, and now we have to make things happen."
This process is already well underway, with Flo Balogun, Arthur Okonkwo, Nuno Tavares and Charlie Patino having headed out on loan. Lucas Torreira meanwhile has joined Galatasaray on a deal worth around £5.5 million.
Pablo Mari is set to be the next one to follow them out of the exit door after a deal was agreed with Monza for a season long loan move that includes an obligation to buy for €7million (£5.9million) on the proviso that the newly promoted side avoid relegation in Serie A.
Runar Alex Runarsson is another one who the club are hoping to move on and football.london understands that the Iceland international has attracted interest from Turkey over a potential move, although there is still a way to go before that one is completed at time of writing. The club are also open to offers on Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Reiss Nelson who both have one year on their contract.
Hector Bellerin also has 12 months remaining on his deal and is attracting interest from Real Betis who want to make his loan from last season a permanent transfer. The Spaniard would love to seal a move to his boyhood club and is willing to take a wage cut to make it happen. The major stumbling block is over whether a fee can be agreed. Arsenal unsurprisingly would prefer this, but having set a precedent by showing their willingness to terminate player contracts in recent years, they have weakened their negotiation stance somewhat. Edu told football.london during an interview that he views these terminations as investments, and the prospect of repeating the trick has not been ruled out as of yet.
There is also uncertainty over the future of Nicolas Pepe. The Ivorian is unlikely to start many Premier League games if he stays with Arsenal, and with just two years remaining on his deal the Gunners would be open to selling. The Ivorian has high wages though and would need to be replaced if he were to go making a deal difficult. As things stand nothing is thought to be close with regards to an exit for Pepe, but things could change in the final weeks of the window.
Incomings
Having done most of their business early with the aforementioned five signings, Arsenal find themselves in a position where they don't feel the desperation to strengthen that they have done in previous summer windows at this stage. They are however, hopeful of adding more players in order to complete what be an impressive recruitment drive.
The wide areas are somewhere they looked to strengthen earlier in the window with a move for Raphinha, but the Brazilian unfortunately chose Barcelona instead. One of the things that was deemed so enticing about the former Leeds player was his ability to play in any of the positions across the forward line and versatility is something that has been valued highly by Arteta when it comes to signings.
This could be something to consider when it comes to the links involving Villarreal's Yeremy Pino. The Spanish international fits into the Arsenal criteria of being young at 19, but not totally inexperienced with a season of first team football at Unai Emery's Villarreal under his belt, and can play up front as well as on either wing. Reports have suggested he would cost between €40million - €50 million (£33.8million - £42.3million), which would seem steep, but Arsenal have shown that they are willing to pay what it takes when they view a target as essential.
Having said that, the Gunners are not averse to trying to find good value for money and could look to do that when it comes to the central midfield positions. football.london understands that they are interested in signing Youri Tielemans from Leicester. The Foxes reportedly want around £25million for the Belgian midfielder, but with competition for his signature scarce and midfield options aplenty at the Emirates Stadium, Edu may want to hold off and see if a cheaper deal for the 25-year-old is possible later in the window - especially with only one year remaining on his current contract.
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