The Erling Haaland to Manchester City transfer announcement has not taken Mikel Arteta by surprise and he has revealed how Arsenal are planning to respond to what could be the biggest deal of the summer.
Despite leading the Premier League table and scoring the joint-highest number of goals across the division (89) - ahead of their clash against Wolves - Pep Guardiola's side have already sent out a warning to the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Man United and the Gunners ahead of next season by reaching an agreement with Borussia Dortmund to sign the Norway international.
A statement via the club's official website read: "Manchester City can confirm we have reached an agreement in principle with Borussia Dortmund for the transfer of striker Erling Haaland to the Club on 1st July 2022. The transfer remains subject to the Club finalising terms with the player."
READ MORE: Arsenal talks continue with Tielemans and Hickey as Mikel Arteta looks to strengthen first team
With Arsenal currently 20 points behind City in the table, the addition of Haaland to a squad that already includes the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Raheem Sterling will certainly make it very difficult for Arteta's side to bridge the gap next season.
But the Spaniard accepts that teams in and around them are only going to get stronger and revealed this summer's transfer plans will be designed to try and get to the level which City - and Liverpool - are currently operating at.
"We expect that every team is going to reinforce and get better every single year," Arteta told reporters. "That’s been the case in the last three or four years in particular and you can see the standard and the level of the top teams in the league, which is unprecedented in Premier League history and that’s the level. It’s only going to get more and more difficult. All the planning we have to do is to try to get to that level."
If the plan to get to that level includes another busy summer transfer window for Arsenal, then it makes links to Darwin Nunez, Youri Tielemans, Aaron Hickey and many more all the more exciting. Although, there has been a theory amongst some Arsenal supporters on social media that Haaland joining Man City will pave the way for Gabriel Jesus to complete a move to the Emirates Stadium.
However, whilst football.london understands that there is indeed interest in signing the Brazil international, Arteta stuck to his policy of refusing to discuss players that don't play for Arsenal when asked if the 25-year-old is one of his targets ahead of the summer transfer window.
"You know that I don’t talk about any players that are not with us," he added. Before later remaining tight-lipped on his plans for the summer with regard to signing at least one striker, given Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette are both out of contract next month.
Meanwhile, Marcelo Pettinati, the agent of Gabriel Jesus has confirmed talks have taken place with the north London outfit, but revealed more clubs are interested in his client: "We had talks with Arsenal about Gabriel Jesus, we like the project - it’s a possibility we’re discussing," Pettinati told transfer guru Fabrizio Romano. "There are six more clubs interested in Gabriel - he’s focused on final games with Man City, we’ll see."
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