Arsenal are far from finished in the transfer market.
After an early flurry of activity, there hasn’t be much to talk about in terms of transfers at Arsenal, but there is likely to be a lot of movement between now and the end of the transfer window.
Unai Emery has been left frustrated at the fact that Arsenal have been unable to shift squad players in order to free up funds for new arrivals. Emery is said to be disappointed with the clubs current defensive options and wants to sign another central defender before deadline day.
Croatian defender Domagoj Vida has been offered to the club at around £16million, and as he favours playing on the left side of the defence, this appeals to Arsenal, who have mostly right-sided central defenders in the squad.
Emery values Calum Chambers qualities but doesn’t believe he is ready to play regularly at the highest level and so has sanctioned a loan move to Fulham. The futures of Rob Holding and Shkodran Mustafi are also not certain, but with limited time to replace them, both are now expected to stay at the club until at least January.
Elsewhere in defence, Sead Kolasinac’s injury has seen the Gunners linked to Ricardo Rodriguez, though Fresh Arsenal understand’s there is no interest in Rodriguez and Emery is happy to enter the season with Nacho Monreal and Ainsley Maitland-Niles as options at left-back.
Aaron Ramsey is yet to commit to the club and with several links to other English clubs, his future is still very much up in the air. Arsenal want him to sign a contract before deadline day but if he does not, they may look to sell to the highest bidder.
There is some interest in Sevilla midfielder Stephen N’Zonzi and also Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele. Arsenal are only likely to sign Dembele on loan, if at all, though the club would like any loan deal to include an option to buy the Frenchman at the end of the loan deal.
For a new forward to arrive in Dembele, Arsenal need to shift some players. Lucas Perez, Joel Campbell and Danny Welbeck are not in Emery’s plans, Perez is set to join West Ham for around £6million, whilst Welbeck is yet to find a new club – but could still move before deadline day.
David Ospina is almost certain to leave the club as he is now considered fourth choice by Emery behind Petr Cech, Bernd Leno and Emiliano Martinez. Napoli and Besiktas are both interested in the Colombian number one.
As well as Ramsey, the club are hopeful that young winger Reiss Nelson will sign a new contract this week, he has just one year remaining on his contract also.