Arsenal hope to sign a centre back, central midfielder and winger – Ornstein
Arsenal hope to sign a centre back, central midfielder and winger in the upcoming transfer window and will listen to offers for a host of their players according to David Ornstein of The Athletic.
The Gunners are open to offers for Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis this summer. In addition to signing Pablo Mari on a permanent deal, William Saliba will join Arsenal in the summer. The North London club will look to sign one more centre back in the coming months.
Mustafi suffered an injury to his right hamstring in the FA Cup semi final against Manchester City. He has undergone a small procedure and is in the early stages of his rehabilitation. He is expected to return to full training in October. This jeopardises his chances of securing a transfer and also leaves Arsenal short at the back.
Pablo Mari, Callum Chambers and Mustafi will miss the start of next season. Mikel Arteta confirmed that the club will have to address that area of the team due to the injuries suffered by the current personnel.
Contrary to recent speculation, Sokratis has not had any discussions about his future at Arsenal with Arteta and plans on seeing out the last year of his contract at the club, according to Chris Wheatley of Goonertalk.
Matteo Guendouzi is expected to depart the club in the summer. He has been training away from the first team in the last month on the orders of Arteta after failing to apologise for his behaviour in the closing stages of the Brighton game as well as other disciplinary issues he has faced in the last few months.
The North London club will also listen to offers for Lucas Torreira who has been linked with a move back to Italy in the past. The Gunners are expected to strengthen their central midfield options over the summer.
Mikel Arteta wants to sign a winger and the club could be open to offers for Alexander Lacazette in a bid to raise funds. The French striker has many admirers in Europe and could be one of the players Arsenal choose to sell as they begin their rebuild. Reiss Nelson is another player who the Gunners could be open to selling but it is unclear how much money the North London side could raise from this sale.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang is a player the club hope to retain and talks are ongoing about a new deal. Arteta has sounded optimistic about his club captain signing a contract to extend his stay in North London but nothing has been finalised yet. If the Gabonese hitman were to leave, he would be a player the Gunners would expect to receive a significant amount of money for. They are well aware, however, that replacing him would likely be more expensive than agreeing a new deal with him.
