This past weekend, Arsenal took a huge step towards confirming their first new signing of this summer’s transfer window. Senior and youth team exits have been announced regularly with Jorginho and Kieran Tierney among the big names leaving, but still no fresh faces have arrived at Emirates Stadium.
It must be noted, that has not been through a lack of trying, however, as Andrea Berta and Mikel Arteta have made serious attempts to strengthen the squad. Martin Zubimendi is one player that looks set to do that with his move from Real Sociedad all but agreed despite late hijack attempt by Real Madrid.
The Gunners will pay more than his £51million release clause in order to spread the fee across instalments and it looks as though passing a medical is the only factor preventing an announcement.
However, as noted by the Athletic, Sociedad have requested the transfer not be officially ratified until July for accounting purposes.
Even with the summer window closed for the next few days, it does not look as though he will be their first confirmed arrival. Benjamin Sesko could be however, as talks with RB Leipzig have been ongoing for the last few weeks with the Slovenia international preferred to Viktor Gyokeres as the striker signing.
Despite Leipzig wanting his future to be resolved quickly, there is no obvious indication that a deal is close to being sealed. With that being said, Arsenal fans may be waiting until July before a new signing for the 2025/26 campaign comes in, but the likelihood of that has changed significantly over the last 72 hours.
That is because a deal to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea is in the process of being finalised with just a £5million release clause in his contract. While that still needs to be activated, the Gunners are expected to bring him in and as such he will become the third Chelsea player to make this exact switch in the last two-and-a-half years.
In January 2022, Jorginho was signed in a £12million deal and six months later Kai Havertz followed suit with £65million paid for his services and it’s fair to say those moves have worked out quite well for Arsenal.
Given the fee involved, Kepa’s arrival will almost certainly be confirmed sooner rather than later as minimal issues are not in need of being ironed out.
When it comes to signing back-up goalkeepers, the expectation is that either a young shot-stopper potentially seen as the future No.1 comes in or a much older player adds more experience in what can be a lonely position.
At 30 and with plenty of Premier League minutes under his belt, Kepa will provide exactly that for David Raya, perhaps where Joan Garcia would not have been able to.
He has just turned 24 and would cost upwards of £20million, which is quite a significant amount for the second-choice goalkeeper but Barcelona, the club he is about to join, seemingly plan to make him their No.1
The £5million deal for Kepa therefore makes perfect sense and his arrival at Emirates Stadium being made official cannot be too far away.
Join our Arsenal WhatsApp channel and get all the latest breaking news, opinion, podcasts and in-depth stories from football.london’s dedicated Arsenal writers straight to your phone!
By following this free service you will be the first to know the news from the Emirates Stadium as it happens, when it happens.
To join our dedicated Arsenal channel, all you have to do is click this link and you can join thousands of others following our Gunners coverage!
If you’re curious, you can check out our privacy policy here.
