Arsenal confirmed the £50million signing of Ben White on Friday and look set to follow up this with more major moves.
According to The Athletic, Arteta has reassured White that he won’t be the club’s last “significant” signing of the summer. The club could still make more defensive and attacking signings, with around a month left in the transfer window.
One surprise target for the club has been Aaron Ramsdale. The Sheffield United stopper, relegated with Bournemouth in the 2019/20 campaign and then again with his current club in 2020/21, Ramsdale has earned mixed reviews from pundits.
Arsenal have already seen two bids knocked back for Ramsdale, with Sky Sports reporting last week that the Gunners were considering a third bid.
This has been backed up by a report on Friday from The Sheffield Star. They say Arsenal are expected to submit a third offer shortly for Aaron Ramsdale – they don’t mention an amount, but Sky Sports suggested it would be a deal worth an initial £18million, potentially rising to £25million. Interestingly The Sheffield Star’s report says that an offer could include some of Arsenal’s most promising young players for loan moves.
They say United will be focusing on temporary transfers after being relegated from the Premier League last term.
Folarin Balogun, once a target for a permanent transfer from Sheffield United, could be one of those included in the deal. He recently signed a new contract at the club but has several first-team players in front of him.
The likes of Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson and Miguel Azeez could be other potential makeweights on loan.
Ramsdale, like White, is 23 years old with Premier League experience and was part of England’s Euro 2020 squad. It appears to be a summer trend for the Gunners to be targetting homegrown players with a younger profile.