Arsenal are having a very quiet transfer window until now. They have only signed two players. One of them is not a new signing. It is just turning the contract of David Raya from loan to permanent. The one new signing of Arsenal is of Riccardo Calafiori. Calafiori has joined Gunners from Bologna for £39 million. He will play as a left back next season. Now, Gunners are focused on midfielder. They want to sign a top quality midfielder from Spain. Arsenal are linked with Mikel Merino who had a great 2023/24 season. He was very good with Real Sociedad. He carried that form in Euro 2024 and helped Spain to win it.
Transfer plans of Arsenal
Arsenal finished the 2023/24 season on second position in the Premier League. The fans faced a sad ending to the season for the second time in a row. Gunners lost the title in 2022/23 season by five points. Last season they came even more close. However, they still were unable to win it and lost the title by only two points on the final day. They have not been able to win the league title since 2004. Mikel Arteta said that the clubs needs to improve their squad. He has been backed by the board and there were 4 new signings expected.
Arsenal wanted to sign keeper, left back, midfielder and a striker. However, they now also feel the need to sign a right winger. Arsenal have completed the signing of David Raya and Riccardo Calafiori. Now they are focused to sign a midfielder. Fabrizio Romano said that Gunners are operating in an unique way. They want to sign one player at a time. Hence, the club is not going after any attackers right now. They need to sort out the situation of the midfield before moving to the next part.
How Mikel Merino got linked with Arsenal
Arsenal signed Declan Rice last season for £105 million. Firstly, he played as a holding midfielder. However, Mikel Arteta started using him as number eight in the last months of 2023/24 season. In addition, Gareth Southgate carried on with it in Euro 2024. Rice was a central midfielder for England throughout the tournament. It is expected that Rice will continue to play as number eight next season. Hence, Gunners are in need to sign a holding midfielder.
Thomas Partey is linked with a move away from North London. Jorginho has been offered a contract extension. However he can’t play on regular basis due to his age. Firstly, Arsenal were linked with Martin Zubimendi. However Zubimendi does not want to leave Spain. As a result, the deal failed and Gunners were once again in hunt for a midfielder. They also had Douglas Luiz in mind. However he signed a deal with Juventus.
Later, Euro 2024 helped Gunners to monitor some of the top midfielders in the world. Arsenal were impressed by Mikel Merino. Merino had a very good season with both club and country. Mikel Arteta liked him and immediately made him his tranfer target. Gunners are now very busy in making this transfer possible. We may witness it happening very soon.
Arsenal yet to make any offer
According to El Diario Vasco, Arsenal are yet to submit any offer to Real Sociedad. Mikel Merino has a £52 million release clause in his current contract. However, his current contract will expire next year. Sociedad are aware of the situation and are not willing to let him leave for him. They are ready to part ways with Merino this summer. Arsenal are looking to take benefit of this situation and willing to pay £26 million. In addition, it is reported that Merino has already agreed personal terms with Gunners. Arsenal are expected to complete his signing very soon as the first week of August is already up.
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