Arsenal appear set to bolster their transfer kitty ahead of what is likely to be a very busy September.
The Gunners have so far only confirmed the signing of Willian and boss Mikel Arteta will know they need to do a lot more if they are to compete with the likes of free spending Chelsea in the race for the top four next season. To help supplement the transfer kitty, the Gunners need to sell and sell well. It seems they are taking steps to do so, with four players heading towards the exit door in what will see the club raise in excess of £60million.
Emiliano Martinez – £20m
Arsenal are prepared to sell goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez between now and the end of the transfer window according to a report in The Athletic on Friday evening. The report suggests Arsenal have put a £20million price tag on the 27-year-old’s head. The caveat to this possible sale and raise of funds is that Arsenal would need to replace Emi. Any back up goalkeeper is likely to have some level of cost attached to them.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles – £20m
Arsenal are in talks with Wolves to sell Maitland-Niles. The versatile Englishman is yet to nail down a place at The Emirates, and with Matt Doherty moving to Spurs, there is a vacancy for a new first team right wing-back at Wolves – a role you could see Ainsley excelling in. The Wolves system allows for their wing backs to play very high up the pitch and with huge attacking influence, as we have seen evidence in Doherty’s excellent attacking contributions in recent years. Arsenal have already rejected an initial £15million bid, and are demanding in excess of £20million. Sky Sports suggest it is likely that a higher bid will arrive from Wolves soon.
Lucas Torreira – £22m
The Uruguayan midfielder seems destined to return to Italy. Viola News bring us the Italian reports that suggest Fiorentina have moved to the front of the queue for Torreira with an offer of 8.5m euros for a one year loan and a further 18m euros to make the deal permanent upon completion of the loan. Torino are amongst other Italian clubs interested though and so Arsenal hold a strong position in these negotiations – equally they will be keen to move on from Torreira and bring in a new midfielder ahead of the next season.
Sokratis (unknown)
Sokratis is unlikely to demand much of a transfer fee, if at all. But the Gunners will be trying to part with the Greek international so that they can free his £90,000 per week wages off the wage bill. Considering he is often omitted from the first team squads altogether, that is a wage the club will not want to start next season paying. Despite him not being the perfect player for Arteta, his experience and defensive abilities make him an attractive option to other. Reports in Italy have linked him to both Napoli and Roma and all signs point to the exit door for Papa.
Hopefully the club can quickly start to shift those players they don’t want around next season and allow Edu and Arteta some flexibility in who they can sign. The likes of Houssem Aouar and Thomas Partey have been linked, but they will not come cheap!