Saka injury boost, ideal Eze teammate, five sold – Arsenal dream final week of the transfer window

And just like that, the summer transfer window is almost over. Arsenal have played two of their three matches in the Premier League-transfer overlap, and this time next week it will almost be a memory.

For Andrea Berta, who only arrived in March, it has been a good one. He has addressed issues across the squad including buying a backup goalkeeper and centre-back.

The most glamorous additions are in midfield (Martin Zubimendi) and attack (Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres). Now it is over to Mikel Arteta to mobilise the group into something ready to win the biggest titles, not just compete for them.

Via new methods for the club of keeping multiple fingers in as many pies as possible before finalising the order, Berta has kept Arsenal in the loop around players and deals he was interested in before going for the swoop once all the decisions had been made. It has paid off.

But, with just over one week to go (the window closes on September 1 at 7pm), what more can Arsenal complete? Here, football.london picks out a dream end to the summer.

Sell up

Eze’s signing and unveiling is surely the last of the window. Unless there are long-term lay-offs to follow for Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, and Martin Odegaard, it feels unlikely that Arsenal go back into the market for new players.

The focus can turn once more to outgoings, and there are plenty to be done. There is a gap in valuation over Fabio Vieira and Jakub Kiwior with interested suitors whilst Oleksandr Zinchenko has no role either.

Albert Sambi Lokonga is done at the Emirates Stadium. Reiss Nelson has somehow managed to get through this far as an Arsenal player as well.

Arsenal are looking at around £80million, at least, for this group of players. That will go some way to offsetting the cost of their expensive activity.

UEFA’s squad cost rules and Premier League profitability and sustainability regulations (PSRs) must also be adhered to. They are not at risk of breaching either yet but Berta will have to show he is more adept when it comes to sales because Arsenal lag behind their rivals on this matter.

Positive injury news

This isn’t even transfer related, which goes to show how well positioned Arsenal are to sit back and watch others panic in the final week. Outside of the aforementioned exits, the big hope will be that scans for Odegaard and Saka come back relatively positive.

Even if it sees them out for a few weeks, the international break offers some cover from big league matches coming up. The fear around Havertz will be the time it has taken to get clarity over his own knee issue.

Eze’s transfer was partially a reaction to him going down. Although not a direct replacement, Eze’s ability to play off the left or as a No.10 allows Arteta to better utilise Mikel Merino, Leandro Trossard, and Ethan Nwaneri behind Gyokeres, if it comes to that.

Ideally, and in a dream scenario, Arsenal would learn that Saka, Odegaard, and Havertz (or at least a mixture of two of the three) will not be out for long at all and so no late turns back into the window are needed.

Eze boost and some quiet

Similar to the above, if Arsenal can remain out of headlines and transfer talk then it will have been a good week. They don’t need the noise and drama of the final few days of the window surrounding them leading to a match at Anfield.

The news part will ultimately be dictated by the state of the injuries. Staying calm and sheltered will be a benefit to Arteta, his staff, and the squad itself.

At the end of it all, if Eze was to make his debut on Merseyside then it would cap off a successful summer. He is the sort of teammate Saka, Gyokeres, and Odegaard want to play with. The last thing anyone wants is to be drawn into more late transfers.