Arsenal have missed out on the signing of Aymeric Laporte after the Manchester City defender finally agreed personal terms with Al Nassr ahead of a move to Saudi Arabia. Mikel Arteta is an admirer of the player and worked with the Spain international centre-back during his time at the Etihad Stadium as Pep Guardiola’s assistant.
His availability this summer had intrigued Arsenal more recently following Jurrien Timber’s knee ligament injury.
But Manchester City simply have no interest in doing further business with their title rivals – unless they put silly money on the table.
Arsenal signed Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from City last summer and both proved to be key difference-makers for the Gunners as they secured a second-place finish.
City would therefore favour doing business with other clubs this summer – preferably ones that do not pose a direct threat to their hopes of success this season.
The Premier League have since agreed a £26million deal with Al Nassr for Laporte and the move now looks set to be completed this week.
There had been an initial holdup as the former Athletic Bilbao man carefully considered whether he was prepared to leave Europe at this stage of his career.
Laporte has fallen down the pecking order at City and the arrival of Josko Gvardiol effectively sealed his fate.
Arsenal are also admirers of Joao Cancelo but much like Laporte, a deal has never really looked likely to materialise.
Instead, Cancelo is expected to join Barcelona as the two clubs continue to negotiate a loan with a view to a permanent transfer.
Ideally, Arsenal would like to recruit some defensive cover for Timber but it’s unclear how much cash they have left in the bank after splashing over £200m on four new arrivals.
Arteta has already hinted the club will be exploring the market for opportunities, although he intends to find solutions within his squad.
“It is a huge blow. Especially for him after just joining the club. We recruited him with clear intentions and what he was bringing to the team was evident,” Arteta said.
“I’m more thinking about the resources in the team to do what we want to do. But it’s true he was giving us a lot on both sides.”
Arsenal first need to focus on clearing some of the fringe players from within their squad.
The likes of Nicolas Pepe, Rob Holding, Cedric Soares, Folarin Balogun and Albert Sambi Lokonga have been told they can move on.
Finding buyers has so far proven complicated, however and that could prove harmful if Arsenal want to spend a considerable amount of cash on the signing of another defender.
