Arsenal handed huge transfer twist as £26m boost emerges after ‘agreement’ reached

Arsenal could surprisingly see themselves impacted by Shakhtar Donetsk agreeing to sign a Brazilian wonderkid from Sau Paulo. Mikel Arteta and Co. have dealt with the Ukrainian club recently but they opted to sell Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea with the Gunners then signing Leandro Trossard.

Two-and-a-half years later and the Belgium international could depart Emirates Stadium with £20million as his asking price. A similar fee is wanted by Arsenal to sell Fabio Vieira with Bundesliga club Stuttgart in talks to sign him.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Reiss Nelson are others that could depart over the coming weeks with concrete interest present in all three. The latter looks likely to join Fulham on another loan spell and though talks over the structure of exactly that are continuing, Arsenal would prefer to sell permanently, as per the Mirror.

Their latest report adds that there is interest from elsewhere in the Premier League for Nelson with the Hale End graduate viewed as one of the club’s most sellable assets.

With that in mind, selling Nelson to Fulham is likely the best-case scenario but there are understandable reservations from those at Craven Cottage over committing to a permanent deal given his injury issues over the last few years.

Marco Silva’s side are yet to make a big first-team signing this summer but that has not been through a lack of trying. According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, the Cottagers saw a financial package close to £34.6million (€40m), with £26million (€30m) as the initial fee, rejected by Shakhtar earlier this week for their star winger Kevin.

Despite that, Fulham may have just seen their hopes of signing the 22-year-old with an improved bid increase. That is because, as per Romano again, Shakhtar have agreed a £10.4million (€12m) deal to sign Sao Paulo wide forward Lucas Ferreira.

That may be the green light for Kevin to join Fulham and though it appears unlikely they bring in two wingers on a permanent basis, the injury suffered to Ryan Sessegnon on Saturday evening may have changed matters.

Nelson has looked bright in pre-season cameos but as the 2025/26 campaign edges closer, it is clear that his future lies elsewhere with the 25-year-old not featuring in Arsenal’s last two friendlies against Athletic Club and Villareal.

If the Gunners are able to sell Nelson, any funds acquired could go onto a multi-functional forward with Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze likely as the club’s dream target. The emergence of Max Dowman and Ethan Nwaneri signing a new contract has made a move this summer unlikely, however.