A manager does two things upon joining a new club – he sells players he doesn’t need and buys players he wants. Usually, the second task starts with scavenging former clubs. Arsenal have completed three signings: Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Stephan Lichtsteiner, and are waiting for Lucas Torreira to finish his Uruguay assignment to complete a fourth one. Next up for Unai Emery, Sevilla players.
Arsenal has spent a total of €41 million so far. Lucas Torreira‘s deal is about to bite another large chunk of the available funds. His transfer from Sampdoria is somewhere in the €30 million range. It’s a big move for the diminutive anchor man and his agent/father realizes that.
“He won’t be alone. It’s a big change [going to England] and we don’t want to think about it yet because we’re scared.”
Mesut Ozil, Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey and Mohamed Elneny are Arsenal’s current midfielders. The addition of Torreira provides depth in what has been considered as a weakness for The Gunners in recent years. The Uruguayan will be Jack Wilshere’s direct replacement.
Steven N’Zonzi, Andre Gomes, Ever Banega
That doesn’t mean Unai Emery is done. He’s still to capture a player he has coached before. Judging by latest reports, Steven N’Zonzi might be the one. The 29-year old Frenchman has reportedly told Sevilla he wants to leave and return to England. He has a €40 million release clause, which is a fee The Gunners should be willing to pay for one of the best holding midfielders in Europe. Furthemore, Emery has suggested he’s ready to offload current squad members in order to sign the ones he wants.
Andre Gomes is another player Emery admires. Gomes’ profile is similar to N’Zonzi’s. He never managed to adapt to Barcelona’s style. His release clause is set at €34 million. The new Arsenal boss will likely have to choose one or the other.
Sevilla’s Ever Banega was also on Emery’s wishlist, but he has recently held talks with the Spanish club and agreed to remain in Andalusia.
Gelson Martins, Julian Draxler, Ousmane Dembele, Cristian Pavon
23-year-old Gelson Martins is a hot name in European football right now. Portuguese young players are difficult to sign because their clubs and agents demand excessively high fees. Martins’ market value was estimated at around €60 million before. The situation changed at the end of last season, when a group of aggressive fans invaded the club’s training ground, attacking players and staff. The reason was Sporting Lisbon’s failure to qualify for the Champions League. As a result, several players decided to leave the club. Gelson Martins was among them. It was believed he would join rival Benfica, but his agent has announced Martins will not be doing so, putting most Premier League clubs on high alert. Rumours say Arsenal had a €30 million rejected before. Now, a bidding war will commence.
The general conviction is that Arsenal will sign a winger. German international Julian Draxler is a name which has been associated with the English club for the past few transfer windows. With Neymar and Mbappe in the team, he’ll never get an opportunity to start for PSG. He will leave, but judging by how Emery treated him last season in France, Draxler’s interest in coming to London has likely faded.
Ousmane Dembele was always a longshot to join The Gunners and that assumption was only reaffirmed when the young French winger announced he will not be leaving Barcelona.
Arsenal are still interested in bringing 22-year-old Argentina winger Cristian Pavon despite having a €30 million offer snubbed in January. He’s a player to watch in Arsenal tranfer news in the following weeks.
The London team lost Per Mertesacker to retirement, Santi Cazorla to Villarreal and gave Callum Chambers a new long-term deal.
When does the Premier League start?
The 2018/19 Premier League season kicks off on Saturday, August 11. Unai Emery will be immediately faced with the tough task of taking points away from defending champions Manchester City at The Emirates Stadium.