Arsenal have burst into life on the transfer market today with the official signing of Mat Ryan following by Now Arsenal could be looking to complete a third and final signing of the window in the form of a left back.
Sead Kolasinac has left on loan and so the club could benefit from a naturally left sided defender, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles appearing uncomfortable when deputising in the role recently. According to Goal, the Gunners are now interested in signing Ryan Bertrand from Southampton.
The 31-year-old would provide Premier League experience back up to Kieran Tierney. With just 6 months remaining on his current deal, Arsenal could be eyeing a deal similar to that which saw them sign Cedric Soares from Southampton last summer. That deal was comprised of an initial loan deal with then the opportunity to sign the player on a free transfer in the summer.
Arteta went public with the fact that he is open to adding a left footed left back to the squad on Friday:
“The option is open and we will look to see what is available,” said Mikel. “With the departure of Kola, we are a little bit short with left-footed full-backs at the moment.
“We know we can use Ainsley [Maitland-Niles] there, we can use Bukayo [Saka] there and we can use Cedric [Soares] – who has played in that position – so we have some options. A natural option to Kieran? Obviously we don’t, but we can adapt.”
Crucially Bertrand would quality as a homegrown player and help ease the burden on Arsenal’s current non-HG quota, which is substantial, leading to the likes of Sokratis and Mesut Ozil having to have been left out of the initial Premier League squad. Whilst both of those have now left, Arteta will still want to clear the decks to help him bring in new players.
Arsenal are also thought to be close to completing a loan deal for Martin Odegaard. Fresh Arsenal understands that Odegaard of Real Madrid is on his way to the club on an initial loan deal, this news is backed up by several sources in Spain this morning.