Andrea Berta could not hide his delight when Arsenal announced the arrival of Noni Madueke from Chelsea in a deal worth £52million.
“We’re very pleased to have concluded an excellent deal for a hugely talented young player in Noni Madueke,” the sporting director told the club’s official website. “Noni’s performance numbers and availability over recent seasons have been exceptional, reflecting his quality and professionalism.
“Noni is a dynamic, versatile wide forward player with strong technical ability who will significantly strengthen our squad. Noni already has valuable experience at the top level and we know he will make a big impact at Arsenal. Together with everyone at the club, we warmly welcome Noni to Arsenal.”
Madueke joins Kepa Arrizabalaga, Christian Norgaard and Martin Zubimendi to have signed for the club this summer and it’s possible more arrivals are confirmed over the coming days. The one signing fans really want to see confirmed is Viktor Gyokeres.
football.london reported earlier this week that Arsenal and Sporting had finally come to an agreement on a €73.5million (£63.7million) deal for the striker with €10million (£8.4million) of that fee in add-ons. However, while the overall price has been agreed, the structure and manner in which the add-ons are achieved are the final details that the clubs are trying to iron out.
It is thought that the Portuguese side reportedly want the add-ons to be near-guaranteed, whereas Arsenal would prefer more challenging criteria to be met. According to Portuguese newspaper Record, as quoted by Sport Witness, talks remain slow and there has been little progress.
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Mikel Arteta wanted his new No.9 on the plane on Saturday (July 19) when the squad fly out to Singapore for their pre-season tour of Asia. It’s still possible, though, that Gyokeres joins up with the squad when they are out there.
Another player who may have to do similar is Cristhian Mosquera. The Valencia centre-back is expected to sign for the Gunners in a deal worth around £15million, inclusive of add-ons. The 21-year-old has always been keen on the move and turned down multiple contract offers from Valencia to try and get the deal over the line.
Mosquera, a centre-back comfortable playing either side, is expected to provide the missing depth for William Saliba in addition to the long-term view of a place in the first team. Furthermore, the Spanish youth international has made appearances at right-back for Valencia and will offer cover, therefore, for Jurrien Timber and Ben White.
The third priority Berta must now work on is sales. A number of fringe stars can move on this summer, with Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Reiss Nelson all linked with a move away. With Arsenal already spending a substantial amount, it’s vital Berta tries to recoup some of that money by moving on some of the aforementioned five players.
