Arsenal and sporting director Edu Gaspar by extension could test a £200,000-per-week forward’s resolve with an enticing offer to link up with Mikel Arteta this summer.
With Riccardo Calafiori over the line after weeks of transfer talks, attention now turns to who else could make a move to north London.
The Brazilian is working to bring in a new striker.
The centre-back, who can also play as a full-back when required, sealed a £34 million move to Arsenal from Bologna this week, with the club officially announcing his capture on Monday.
The 22-year-old signed a five-year contract and helps to reinforce Arteta’s backline with an alternative to star centre-back duo William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, which could prove key to Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge, especially if one of the aforementioned were to become missing at any point next term.
| Riccardo Calafiori’s Bologna Statistics 2023-24 | |
|---|---|
| Serie A Games | 30 |
| Goal Contributions | 7 |
| Clean Sheets | 15 |
| Interceptions Per 90 Minutes | 1.92 |
| Tackles Per 90 Minutes | 1.80 |
| via WhoScored | |
After Calafiori, Arsenal are believed to be in the market for a new attacker, which may come in the form of a striker or wide player. Leandro Trossard, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz starred going forward last season, scoring 51 goals between them in all competitions, but Gabriel Jesus endured an injury-hit stop-start season.
Gabriel Martinelli also suffered a slight dip in form towards the back end of last campaign, and Arsenal will have to be near-perfect if they hope to make it third-time-lucky in their quest to beat Man City to the title.
In terms of the rumoured targets on Arsenal’s agenda, Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres and Napoli star Victor Osimhen have been linked this week, while it remains the case that Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams is in their thinking.
While Arsenal are monitoring Bayern Munich star Leroy Sane’s situation, according to Sky Germany, Williams comes as a very exciting alternative after his heroics for Bilbao last season and for Spain at Euro 2024.
The 21-year-old impressed on-lookers with scintillating displays at the Euros, and registered a head-turning 19 assists in all competitions for his club last term. Williams is attracting serious interest from Barcelona and Chelsea as a result of his performances lately, but Arsenal are still there and could move before deadline day.
Arsenal could test Williams with enticing offer to join Arteta
According to The Mirror and senior sports reporter Dan Marsh, Edu could test Williams with an enticing offer to join Arsenal in the coming weeks, despite the presence of Barca and other elite clubs in the race for him.
The £200,000-per-week forward’s contract includes a £50 million release clause, but his wage demands could prove to be a roadblock, so it will be interesting to see just how far they’ll go with personal terms.
HITC have previously stated that Williams is demanding around £300,000-per-week to move away from Bilbao, which shocked those within Arsenal, and it would make the Spaniard their highest-paid player.
