The transfer window has been open for just four days but Premier League clubs are not waiting around. Liverpool have already progressed on three deals, confirming Jeremie Frimpong and continuing discussions over Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez.
Manchester City have agreed a deal to sign Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan, while discussions are ongoing with Lyon for Rayan Cherki. Chelsea are pushing ahead with moves for Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens, while Manchester United have confirmed the arrival of Matheus Cunha and hope to bring in Bryan Mbeumo.
The deals of the big six have left Arsenal supporters on edge with complaints that the club are not moving quickly enough in their deals while rivals get to work aggressively. That said, the club have already advanced in their bid to sign Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad, with the hope that the move will be confirmed in July.
Furthermore, concrete discussions are understood to be ongoing regarding a potential move for RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko. Viktor Gyokeres is not ruled out either with sporting director Andrea Berta taking a broad approach to the summer strategy, ready to pivot when necessary.
Arsenal have desires to strengthen the wide area, defence and the back-up goalkeeper position. Work is also needed regarding outgoings with the futures of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson and Albert Sambi Lokonga needing a resolution.
The club are calm and football.london has been told by sources that there is confidence internally that Mikel Arteta’s side will be in a much stronger position for the start of the Premier League season. With both Chelsea and Manchester City involved in the Club World Cup, there is certainly more urgency from them to complete deals before the June 10 deadline.
Arsenal's confidence comes from Berta's work. There is no doubt that there is pressure on Arsenal this summer. If they experience a similar window to 2024 instead of 2023, then fan sentiment could reach an all-time low, especially after Josh Kroenke reached out to fans in the final home matchday programme of the season, speaking of confidence and investment in improving the squad.
Arsenal and Arteta cannot be left short for the start of the season. But with well over 30 days until players return for pre-season training and close to two weeks more than that until the team fly to Asia for their pre-season tour, time is on the club’s side – the need for panic is far from justified.
Join the football.london Arsenal WhatsApp channel
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
Join our Arsenal WhatsApp channel and get all the latest breaking news, opinion, podcasts and in-depth stories from football.london's dedicated Arsenal writers straight to your phone!
By following this free service you will be the first to know the news from the Emirates Stadium as it happens, when it happens.
To join our dedicated Arsenal channel, all you have to do is click this link and you can join thousands of others following our Gunners coverage!
If you're curious, you can check out our privacy policy here.