Following the reported agreement to sign Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad, Arsenal have seen a number of their rivals move closer to completing their first summer transfer.
The Gunners acted quickly to finalise a move for the Spaniard with the first steps toward acquiring his signature made back in January. The player has since agreed terms to join once the upcoming trading period opens with his £51 million release clause likely to be activated.
Alongside that addition in midfield, Mikel Arteta would like to bring a wide forward, back-up goalkeeper and defender to Emirates Stadium before the 2025/26 season, football.london understands.
Viktor Gyokeres, Nico Williams, Joan Garcia and Dean Huijsen look to be the priority signings in each of those positions, but a deal for the latter is seemingly already off the table. Though interest from Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea has been made clear, Real Madrid look set to sign him from Bournemouth.
According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Los Blancos have already agreed to pay his £50m release clause and now meetings are taking place to reach an agreement on personal terms.
With the Club World Cup kicking off in June, Real Madrid's incoming head coach Xabi Alonso is said to have made it clear he wanted new signings in the door for then and it looks as though that is exactly what he will be getting with Trent Alexander-Arnold also set to join as a free agent after confirming his departure from Liverpool.
Speaking of the Premier League champions, they could complete two new signings very early into the summer window with talks advancing for Jeremie Frimpong. The Dutch defender has a £30m release clause in his contract which looks set to be activated by Arne Slot's side, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
Further up the pitch, contact has been made with the representatives of Frimpong's Bayer Leverkusen teammate Florian Wirtz, according to The Athletic's David Ornstein. The Germany international, who could cost £84m (€100m), is also wanted by Manchester City and reports from Germany revealed he was in England earlier this week.
Even after such a huge January splurge, Pep Guardiola wants more additions for his rebuild with AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders also a target. The Italian club have been made aware of City's interest with direct contact made, but an opening bid is not expected for a few more weeks with Reijnders focused on completing the season.
£58m (€70m) has been mooted as his asking price but interest from Real Madrid could see that increase especially if a bidding war starts.
Meanwhile at Arsenal, completing a deal for a striker is seen as the priority by many with a fiery Arteta giving his thoughts on that topic at a recent press conference.
In response to Arsenal needing someone like Mohamed Salah to score 25 goals, Arteta replied: "I would look more broadly. I think if you score over 90 goals you have a high, high probability of winning the Premier League.
"It doesn't guarantee you, but you have a high probability if your defensive record is very good as well and very dependable as well against who and in which moment this striker, this winger in this case, has scored the goals and how many points is he contributing with his goals as well."
A follow-up question saw him told his own words make it sound like he does not see signing a striker is necessarily the answer, to which he retorted back: "Do I have to make it more clear? In January it was clear or not?
"I want the best team, the best player. If we have three goal scorers over 25, bring them in and we're going to be a much better team," the Arsenal boss later added.
While not directly admitting to needing a striker, his strong words certainly suggest that is what he wants and to keep pace with so many rivals doing great business, it will be needed.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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