Fabrizio Romano has confirmed Arsenal have ‘reached a full agreement’ for their fourth summer signing after Martin Zubimendi, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Christian Norgaard.
Zubimendi and Norgaard will bolster Mikel Arteta’s midfield following respective £55m and £9m moves from Real Sociedad and Brentford, while Kepa has joined as backup to David Raya after the Gunners triggered his £5m release clause to land him from Chelsea.
The priority for the window is a new No.9, but while Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta drag their feet while deciding between Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres and RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko, they’ve made a move to sign yet another defender.
Arteta has a wealth of centre-back options, with all of Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber, Ben White and Jakub Kiwior providing cover for William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, the immovable star pairing at the heart of the Gunners defence.
And yet, Fabrizio Romano says they’ve now agreed personal terms with Valencia’s Cristhian Mosquera and are readying an improved offer for the centre-back having had an opening bid of €14m [£12m] knocked back by the La Liga side.
Romano wrote on X: ‘Arsenal have reached full agreement on personal terms with Christian Mosquera. New proposal set to be submitted after opening bid worth €14m got rejected by Valencia. Arsenal hope to get the deal done for fee in excess of €20m, talks underway. ‘
The news of that likely fourth signing comes amid reports that the first of the summer will imminently be announced as an Arsenal player.
Doubt have frequently been raised over Zubimendi’s supposed move to the Emirates since it was first revealed that he had agreed to the transfer, but claims of a late Real Madrid hijacks and U-turns similar to the one which saw him snub Liverpool last summer can soon be well and truly put to bed.
That’s according to Spanish outlet AS, who claim the 26-year-old will ‘say goodbye’ to his Real Sociedad teammates ahead of new manager Sergio Francisco first training session with the squad on July 7.
Whether Zubimendi will be playing with Gyokeres next season remains to be seen, but Sporting president Frederico Varandas insists the midfielder’s transfer to the Emirates is partly to blame for the time it’s taking to get a deal done for the striker.
“Sporting is very calm about Gyokeres. Sporting does not need to sell Gyokeres,” Varandas said.
“We have already passed the stage where we had to sell our best assets. We do not have to sell him. In the same way that we do not have to sell him, we are still sensitive to Viktor ‘s dreams.
“Sporting has a commitment, made by the president, not to ask for the value of the termination clause and to be reasonable in relation to Viktor’s performance last season.
“If you ask me today, there is a strong possibility that Viktor will leave. We have been keeping an eye on the market, I saw a player like Zubimendi, who is six months younger than Viktor, go to Arsenal for €65 million (£55m).
“I saw two players being sold in the Premier League – Matheus Cunha and [Bryan] Mbeumo – forwards who do not have the quality of Viktor, in my opinion, were sold for around €70m.
“We are talking about players who are 26 years old. So, given the demands we are making in relation to Viktor ‘s value, I believe he could leave, unless he has the worst agent in the world. Which I find hard to believe.”
