Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta has responded to questions around Arsenal and their attempts to sign Vinicius Junior and Julian Alvarez, as well as suggestions Viktor Gyokeres could be sold.
The final month of the summer transfer window promises fireworks at Arsenal. In an ideal world, the Gunners would round out the window with the blockbuster TRIPLE signing of Bruno Guimaraes, Vinicius Junior and Julian Alvarez.
The first of those three deals is nearing completion, with ESPN Brasil and The Times both confirming a club-to-club agreement with Newcastle for the transfer of Guimaraes has been struck.
The Gunners will reportedly pay £70m plus £10m in add-ons, and a full agreement on personal terms is already in place.
Beyond Guimaraes, TEAMtalk has been informed Arsenal are confident of striking agreements – both with the player and club – to sign Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid.
Sporting director Andrea Berta continues to work on that move, and Arsenal are fully prepared to break the British transfer record (£125m – Alexander Isak to Liverpool) to make it happen.
Finally, Arsenal are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the crunch talks that will be held between Vinicius Junior, his camp, and Real Madrid this coming week.
The purpose of the discussions is to ascertain whether Vinicius will sign a new contract at the Bernabeu. If no breakthrough is made, Arsenal will make their move and are ready to make Vinicius the highest paid player in the club’s history, and by some distance too.
Of course, completing the monumental triple signing would require Arsenal to balance the books. And per The Independent, one player Arsenal are willing to ‘listen to offers’ for is striker, Viktor Gyokeres.
There have also been suggestions in Spain that Gyokeres could be used as a makeweight in the deal that would bring Alvarez over from Atletico Madrid.
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Arteta reacts to Vinicius, Alvarez, Gyokeres transfer questions
But according to manager Mikel Arteta when speaking late on Saturday night, Gyokeres is certain to stay in north London.
When asked a question about Alvarez and whether his potential arrival could force Gyokeres out, Arteta replied when referring to Gyokeres: “Yes, he’s going to STAY.”
On Alvarez, Arteta took the diplomatic route when stating: “I’m not going to talk about a footballer who isn’t ours.”
Arteta was also asked about Vinicius Junior and whether Arsenal fans can expect signings in the coming weeks.
He replied: “Well, we are really active, trying to improve and evolve the team. That’s clear.
“We expect to have movements in the next few weeks, obviously, because we want to get better like anybody else. And you can just see the transfer market and our opponents.
“What we are doing, we won’t sit still, and we are very ambitious in what we want to do.”
And after swerving the Vinicius part of the question, he was point-blank asked by another reporter: “I must ask you, when is Vini joining?”
With a smile on his face, Arteta turned away and chose not to respond.