A very busy August looks to be on the horizon for Arsenal after the month of July was dominated by the club’s pursuit of Riccardo Calafiori. After weeks of negotiations, the Gunners finalised a deal to sign the Italy international in a £42million deal with his arrival made official earlier this week.
Calafiori arrived as Arsenal’s third summer signing following the permanent addition of David Raya and young goalkeeper Tommy Setford joining from Ajax. On the exit front, only Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares have had moves confirmed to Sevilla and Lazio, respectively.
Though five transfers have been completed this month, the upcoming four weeks will likely involve much more activity, with both incomings and outgoings on the agenda. As football.london have reported for some time, signing a midfielder is a priority for Mikel Arteta and Edu ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
Mikel Merino appears to be the main target for the Gunners with the Real Sociedad star seeing his contract expire in 2025. Atletico Madrid are also interested in the Spain international but their focus appears elsewhere with negotiations ongoing to sign Conor Gallagher from Chelsea.
While the expectation was that any new midfielder would be brought in as a replacement for Thomas Partey, Merino would arrive following an exit for a different player. Emile Smith Rowe is set to join Fulham in a deal worth up to £35million, football.london understands.
A portion of that fee is available in add-ons, however £27million will be heading straight to Arsenal. Eddie Nketiah is another Hale End academy graduate being linked to an exit with Marseille submitting their second offer to the Gunners with that proposal in the region of £16.8million (€20m), as per David Ornstein of the Athletic.
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Though Arsenal are expected to reject that approach, despite the structural improvements of the bid, that is a minimum of £43million that Edu can use on more new signings. With Arsenal prepared to advance in talks for Merino, an elite-level striker could still be signed using the windfall likely to be secured.
Victor Osimhen, Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres have all been linked but it really is only the latter within Arsenal’s financial realms. Despite having an £86million release clause in his contract, Arsenal could agree a lower fee with Sporting CP open to accepting an offer below that amount.
As further proof he may be on the move, Sporting have paid Coventry to reduce their sell-on clause. According to Portuguese newspaper Bola Na Rede, the Sky Blues’ sell-on clause for Gyokeres has been reduced by five percent following an agreement with the Portuguese club.
Considering his stunning 43-goal season in Portugal, his arrival would be a dream for Arteta as he looks to sign his own Erling Haaland and again push Manchester City for the Premier League title.
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