Arsenal’s sporting director Andrea Berta could finally be about to kick-start his transfer masterplan as just a few weeks of the summer window remain.
The new Gunners chief has successfully negotiated six incomings over the last few months with Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, Martin Zubimendi, Cristhian Mosquera, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Christian Norgaard all joining, but there is still work to be done.
As over £200million has been spent, permanent exits likely have to be sanctioned to balance the books and potentially even target a seventh summer signing. Reiss Nelson, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Leandro Trossard and Jakub Kiwior are all, seemingly, up for sale at the right price.
The latter’s asking price appears to be more than £23.4million with that being the value of FC Porto’s offer to sign him which was not entertained by the Gunners. Following that, Zinchenko has seemingly become their focus with the Ukraine international also having interest from Serie A and the Bundesliga.
It is Premier League links for Nelson and Trossard, meanwhile, with Aston Villa making enquiries for the latter and Fulham have been in talks to sign Nelson over the last few weeks.
That deal may not progress any further as the Cottagers are pursuing Shakhtar Donetsk winger Kevin and are also expected to try and sign a replacement for the outgoing Rodrigo Muniz.
There are also a number of moving parts in a (potential) Trossard to Villa deal, with AS Roma, Newcastle United, Jacob Ramsey, Leon Bailey and Jadon Sancho all involved. The latter duo are both being actively pursued by the Serie A club with a £20million bid already lodged to Manchester United for Sancho, as per transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.
He has also recently revealed that Villa and Newcastle have agreed a deal for Ramsey that could reach £43million. With Ramsey on his way out and Bailey potentially following, Villa have a clear gap in their squad and Trossard could be the man to fill it.
Arsenal will hope that scenario playing out and the Belgium international being moved on will kick off a number of expected departures. If enough of those are permanent transfers, Arsenal could go back into the market and sign another forward.
Crystal Palace playmaker Eberechi Eze is one name that has been heavily linked, but he now looks more likely to join Tottenham if he does depart Selhurst Park. The contract renewal of Ethan Nwaneri has also seen interest cool with a more natural winger likely to be targeted if their proposed exits go through.
Either way, Ramsey’s switch getting the green light from all parties could have a big impact on Arsenal with it clear what their priority is for the remaining weeks of the current trading period.
