It has been an extremely busy couple of weeks for Arsenal in the transfer window as Edu looks to wrap up his targets before the start of the Premier League season on August 5. And the Brazilian has had some success and disappointment along the way.
Despite the failure to sign Raphinha after Chelsea hijacked a move, the Gunners successfully completed the signings of Marquinhos, Fabio Viera and Matt Turner. Gabriel Jesus is also set to be the fourth signing of the summer following an imminent announcement.
However, the transfer business for the north London side has not finished, as more movement is expected in the market. The Arsenal Way Presenter Tom Canton spoke to football.london's Arsenal writer Kaya Kaynak about the outlook of the Gunners’ transfer window on The Arsenal Way’s Pressbox show.
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Tom started the show by asking Kaya his thoughts on the arrival of Gabriel Jesus and the decision to give him the number nine shirt.
Kaya said: “The number nine makes perfect sense to me as I think he is going to play centre-forward for Arsenal a lot of the time which is the plan, and he is keen to get into the Brazil squad for the World Cup.
"Brazil are stacked in the wing positions when you look at players like Raphinha, Vinicius Jr, Gabriel Martinelli and Rodrygo at Real Madrid, and so many others, meaning they are more likely to have space in the squad for a number nine. Gabriel Jesus played a lot of football last season on the wing for City, but I think he is keen to establish himself as a number nine.”
Arsenal have been busy with potential incomings at the club, but Tom asked Kaya about the potential outgoings with Nuno Tavares being the focus.
“Arsenal have full control on what they want to do with the Tavares situation,” Kaya said. “It is my understanding that Tavares has not been told that he is going to leave anywhere at this moment of time, he is expected to come back on July 11 for pre-season training, so make of that what you will for the potential Lisandro Martinez arrival.
"The Gunners head out for the United States tour in July 13 and I believe Arsenal are keen to get their transfer business done before that, with Martinez who they are pushing for, but Manchester United are also keen and they do have Erik ten Hag who has managed Martinez before, so it will be an interesting battle.”
Kaya continued to speak about the importance of Martinez’s signing for Arteta’s side next season.
He said: “Martinez offers something different from Kieran Tierney, in the sense that Tierney is the traditional overlapping full-back, whereas Martinez is a more Takehiro Tomiyasu left-sided player so I think in terms of squad options it would make sense to create space for him in the squad. I am a big fan of Martinez and if Arsenal get the deal over the line it would be a fantastic piece of business."
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