Mikel Arteta has been handed a huge update on two of Arsenal’s midfield transfer targets. Thomas Partey is still expected to be sold this summer, and thus the Gunners are in the market to sign a replacement with one spot in Arteta’s midfield very much open.
While the aim of the upcoming trading period is tailored to raising the floor of the squad rather than the ceiling, as football.london understands, the Gunners have an obvious gap to fill. Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice performed superbly in the 2023/24 season, with Partey joining them for the final few games of the season.
During his injury absence, it was often Jorginho who filled the deep-lying role, however he is not quite capable of playing twice a week on a regular basis. As such, Arteta and sporting director Edu will both likely know a new marquee midfielder is needed.
“[We] look again,” the Arsenal boss told CNN when asked about transfers. “All the margins, squad-wise, the process that we have at the football club, our methodology, especially on how we can make our players better, more competitive, more consistent and cause them to raise the level and be better than the previous season
“I think our focus has to be with what we have already in house. How can we be better? There are margins and there are players that can still develop and be better and that’s the objective that we have.”
