Fabrizio Romano has answered the question every Arsenal fan has been asking since Saturday’s transfer bombshell — and his reply changes the shape of the Gunners’ summer.
Arsenal’s window had been building nicely. Piero Hincapie and Illan Meslier arrived early, Christos Tzolis is lined up as the £34m replacement for the departing Leandro Trossard, and a marquee winger was meant to complete the front line.
Then came Saturday’s blow: Morgan Rogers, the man Mikel Arteta had wanted since January, chose Chelsea in a £117m deal instead. Within hours, supporters flooded social media with one name as the obvious response.
On Saturday night, Romano addressed that name directly — and revealed a second winger Arsenal have already tried, and failed, to move for.
Romano reveals where Arsenal actually stand on Barcola
According to Fabrizio Romano, speaking on his YouTube channel, the answer on Bradley Barcola is a cold shower. “Many Arsenal fans asking me, now Arsenal are going all in for Barcola, now Arsenal are working on Barcola? Guys, my understanding on Barcola is that so far Arsenal have not made any checks,” he said. “So, at the moment, the conversation Barcola Arsenal is still cold, I would say. Liverpool remain very attentive to the situation, Liverpool remain very keen on Barcola.”
Romano did reveal one move Arsenal made: “Arsenal over the last few days made some checks with the agents of Yan Diomande from Red Bull Leipzig to understand if there was still a chance to enter the deal. But don’t forget Diomande has an agreement on personal terms with Paris Saint-Germain, and Paris Saint-Germain are in negotiations with Leipzig.”
On Rogers, Romano called the outcome “a big shock” but insisted Arsenal held their line on price: “Let me tell you Arsenal were never going to offer £117m, £120m, £130m. For Arsenal, the value, the realistic value of the player was around £90m, £100m maximum.”
So where does Arteta turn now?
The honest reading is that Arsenal enter the final weeks of July without a live deal for a marquee wide player. Barcola is cold, Diomande is spoken for, and Rogers is gone. Romano himself framed what comes next as open: “Arsenal will now need to react on the market, and we have to see the consequences.”
The verdict: expect discipline rather than panic. Arsenal’s refusal to go beyond £100m for Rogers shows Berta and Arteta will not be bounced into a statement signing, and Tzolis’ arrival gives the squad immediate depth. But a Premier League champion that just lost William Saliba to injury and its top target to a direct rival cannot stand still. The next fortnight — and the names Romano surfaces in it — will define this window.