Andrea Berta £24m Arsenal transfer masterstroke clear as ‘agreement’ reached

Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta may have helped Arsenal save £22 million for a potential Eberechi Eze transfer.

The Gunners have already welcomed six summer signings with a final incoming, likely to be the Crystal Palace star, still possible if exits are completed first.

With nearly £200m spent to bring in Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Christian Mosquera, Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres, Berta is now prioritising departures.

Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson and Oleksandr Zinchenko have been the subjects of concrete interest with Fulham interested in the latter duo while West Ham United have added the former to their transfer shortlist.

Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Jakub Kiwior could be others that depart if a suitable offer arrives. However, given injury issues facing Mikel Arteta in defence, the Poland international leaving is hard to foresee.

If Arsenal can raise in the region of £50m from exits, a move for Eze could well be formalised especially as Palace’s demands now clear with Berta’s shrewd decision-making helping the Gunners’ financial position.

Signing a back-up goalkeeper and new defender were priorities but with more marquee additions required further forward, a limited budget was seemingly available for depth signings. As a result, long-term targets Jorrel Hato and Joan Garcia being signed looked unlikely.

The latter ultimately chose to join Barcelona in a €25m (£21.6m) deal, which was the value of his release clause, with Arsenal then pivoting to Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga and agreeing to sign him for just £5m.

A similar saving has now seemingly been achieved on their defensive addition with Mosquera costing an initial £13m while Hato is on the verge of leaving Ajax to join Chelsea in a deal worth £37m with an agreement reached for the move.

The Dutchmn is only two years younger than Mosquera with his versatility a key trait that likely upped the price. However, with Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Riccardo Calafiori and Kiwior as Arteta’s centre-back options, it made sense to spend much less on a new addition in that position.

With his move from Valencia announced seven days ago, Mosquera has trained alongside his new teammates and as such, was able to make his debut off the bench against Tottenham in Hong Kong on Thursday. Gyokeres also played his first minutes in a North London Derby but struggled to make an impact.

In fact, it was Mosquera who went closest to equalising as he connected with a corner late on but his header did not trouble Guglielmo Vicario and thus Spurs were able to secure a victory over their rivals in pre-season.