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All the latest news and transfer rumours surrounding Arsenal as they head back home to London.
Arsenal are now London-bound after a pre-season tour of Asia that finished in a defeat to Tottenham in Hong Kong. The Gunners did enjoy a productive trip to the East, though, picking up a coupe of wins and getting the all-important minutes in their legs
Now it’s time for the hard yards back in London as the new season approaches, with Mikel Arteta needing to bed in a host of new signings after the club sanctioned deals worth more than £200million collectively. Here we round up all the latest news and transfer rumours surrounding the Emirates Stadium.
Eze clause expires
Arsenal decided not to activate Eberechi Eze’s release clause before Friday night’s deadline. Eze had a £68million release clause in his Palace contract that gave the Gunners the chance to skip negotiations with their London rivals.
But that clause expired on Friday night and the Gunners did not pull the trigger. Arsenal are still said to be interested, though, but they will now have to agree a new fee with Palace, albeit the asking price for Eze is not expected to change too much from the value of his release clause.
Liverpool hijack transfer
Liverpool are now said to be closing in on a deal for reported Arsenal target Will Wright, who has been tipped as one of the next big things. According to reports, Liverpool are now leading the race to sign the 17-year-old Salford City star despite claims he would be heading to North London.
The Athletic say Liverpool have agreed a deal worth £200,000 plus add-ons, something Arsenal also managed, but it’s claimed Wright has now agreed personal terms with Liverpool.
Merino on Spurs defeat and Asia tour
Mikel Merino spoke after Arsenal’s defeat to Tottenham in their final game of their Asia tour. The Spaniard told club media: “It’s not the result we wanted. Obviously, winning is a priority for us, but in pre-season, there are other things that have a lot of value, like getting fit, keeping that connection with the fans here in this amazing city.
“We adapted quickly to the pitch, to the opponent, I think we dominated most of the game. The result is obviously the worst part, but we have to take the positives. Obviously, this feeling is going to be the gasoline for the season to keep growing, keep learning and hopefully go upwards.”
Merino added: “The support has been amazing throughout the whole tour. Thank you very much to the whole fan base, because I know it's hard for them to support us during the season, sometimes with times that are not ideal for them. But thank you very much because it was lovely.
“It was an amazing two weeks. I think always when you come to these kind of tours, you have a lot of excitement about it. Time to discover new places, new parts of the world for us. And at the same time, show what Arsenal is, the culture, the family we are in a different country. So overall an amazing experience and hopefully we'll come back soon.”
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