Arsenal have announced the permanent sale of Emile Smith Rowe to Fulham and the breakdown of his £34m transfer has emerged, while Fabrizio Romano has declared a follow-up signing is “really, really close” after terms were agreed and a verbal bid made.
The sales of homegrown stars are extra lucrative for clubs, with the proceeds representing pure profit on the balance sheet.
Emile Smith Rowe falls into that category at Arsenal and the lively attacker’s stock in north London had fallen through little fault of his own.
Injuries derailed what was a bright start to his senior career with the Gunners, with the subsequent arrivals of Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz providing more reliable options in the attacking midfield roles.
As such, Arsenal opened the door to a sale and London rivals Fulham have strode through.
Fulham have sealed a £34m transfer that has been officially confirmed by both clubs involved.
The £34m fee is split into £27m plus £7m in add-ons that are understood to be easily achievable. Furthermore, Arsenal have successfully inserted a sell-on clause into the deal worth in excess of 10 percent.
Smith Rowe has signed a five-year contract running until 2029. Fulham also hold a club option for an extra season.
Smith Rowe exit paves way for Mikel Merino transfer
Arsenal were holding fire on making a third major signing of the summer until Smith Rowe departed. David Raya (£27m via option to buy) and Riccardo Calafiori (£42m) were signings one and two.
But with Smith Rowe now departed, the Gunners are free to ramp up the signing of a player they hope can help secure their first Premier League title since 2004.
Central midfield is where the Gunners are seeking an addition next and an agreement on personal terms with Real Sociedad and Spain ace, Mikel Merino, has been struck.
Merino will put pen to paper on a four-year contract if completing a move to the Emirates. To that end, Arsenal have reportedly verbally offered a deal worth upwards of €30m (add-ons included).
Real Sociedad had initially hoped to collect €50m for the 28-year-old. However, Merino has entered the final year of his contract and that has resulted in the LaLiga side lowering their demands.
Providing an update on the move in his Daily Briefing, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano revealed the move is on the cusp of completion.
“Let me say that Arsenal are really closing in on the deal for Mikel Merino and let me clarify that the package is going to be something around €30m,” wrote the reporter.
“We’ll understand in the structure of the deal in the next days, but the agreement between Arsenal and Real Sociedad is really, really close. Everything is proceeding to the final stages.”
Merino already has Premier League experience
Assuming Arsenal do get a deal for Merino over the line, his spell at Arsenal won’t be his first stint in England.
Merino – who has racked up 28 caps for Spain over the last four years – was previously on the books of Newcastle.
Merino joined Newcastle on loan from Borussia Dortmund ahead of the 2017/18 campaign. The loan contained an obligation to buy pending appearance targets which was quicky triggered.
However, the £8.5m signing was sold to Real Sociedad for £10m after just one season at St. James’ Park and it was back in his home country where Merino’s career truly took off.
