Arsenal are unlikely to bring in a marquee signing similar to their £105million Declan Rice acquisition of last summer, football.london understands. The club are looking to be active in the market but unless a too-good-to-be-true chance emerges, the strategy will be tailored to raising the floor of the side rather than the ceiling.
There are certainly marquee players that the club are interested in such as Alexander Isak and there have been suggestions of a keenness in Marcus Rashford. However, considering the club’s financial landscape and needs across the squad there will be restraint in what the club does.
This makes sense considering how Arsenal fell away from the cup competitions early and lacked options in different parts of the campaign as they came so close to Manchester City. The club are keen to make money in the market and move players on.
The futures of Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe, Aaron Ramsdale, Reiss Nelson, Fabio Vieira and Oleksandr Zinchenko need to be addressed with no guarantees that any will be with the side come September. There is certainly plenty of scope to bring in plenty of financial benefit if the club can secure some lucrative agreements.
It is an area which sporting director Edu Gaspar continues to face scrutiny for. The Brazilian managed some good sales last summer, bringing in more than £20million for Granit Xhaka and more than £30million for Folarin Balogun who have subsequently had contrasting seasons for their new sides.
Any players who are sold who came through the academy would represent pure profit on the books, which frees up much more room for reinvestment within the confines of Profit and Sustainability. If Arsenal are able to sell successfully, or if the market allows, things can of course change to promote a potential surprise signing.
The area which the club are looking at remain widespread with needs at centre-forward, the wide area, central midfield and defence. A backup goalkeeper is another position the club are likely to invest in on top of the £27million needed to make David Raya’s move permanent.
Suddenly, with the volume of needs, it becomes clear why a massive summer signing is so unlikely. The mission will be adding players who despite not being marquee perhaps still add starting-level quality now and in the future and with names like Benjamin Sesko, Nico Williams and Jorrel Hato on the cards it makes sense.
