Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta is now making serious progress on the transfer front.
Mikel Arteta will hope to have both Kepa Arrizabalaga and Christian Norgaard added to his Arsenal squad over the coming week.
Both will come in to add experience and competition to Arteta’s squad, effectively replacing both Neto and Thomas Partey.
Of course, Arsenal are also bidding to sign Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia as they aim to recruit long-term back-up for William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
It’s all happening in N5 right now, but it has to be said that most Arsenal fans are still more concerned about which striker will arrive at the Emirates next month.
RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres are still at the front of the queue, and Berta remains locked in talks for both.
Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres are ‘anxious’ waiting for Arsenal’s decision
That being said, TBR Football chief correspondent Graeme Bailey has now provided an update in that regard.
Significantly, Arsenal want to have a new striker in place for the start of pre-season, which will commence in the next fortnight.
Arsenal’s players and staff will soon spend five days in Spain in a pre-season training camp before they head to Singapore on July 19 for their tour of Asia.
Bailey was confident that ‘progress’ was being made on the club’s hunt for number nine, even if things had somewhat gone quiet publicly.
Benjamin Sesko in action for RB Leipzig vs Stuttgart
Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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He said: “Arsenal want striker in for start of pre-season – I am told they are working towards that, but also there is no panic.
“They are in a good position – they know they are getting one of their top targets – there is no doubt about that.
“Whilst Sesko and Gyokeres are both somewhat ‘anxious’ to finalise their futures – Arsenal are making progress with their plans.”
Arsenal still leaning towards a deal for Benjamin Sesko
Of course, TBR Football does understand that Sesko is Arsenal’s preferred option as things stand.
It was previously shared that Arsenal wanted to pay around £59m for Sesko this summer, even if Leipzig are holding out for a little more.
And whilst Arsenal continue to explore what a deal might look like for Sesko, they’re doing the same with Gyokeres.
Berta has his own transfer tactics at Arsenal and they are very different when compared to his predecessor Edu Gaspar.
Arsenal are continuing to work on deals for both strikers and when it comes to eventually recruiting one or the other, one party will be left somewhat disappointed.
But from Berta and Arsenal’s perspective, they will consider that they’ve done their job properly.