Here is your Arsenal transfer roundup on Thursday, June 8.
Gundogan twist
Arsenal and Barcelona have both been heavily linked with a move for Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan.
Gundogan is into the final four weeks of his contract at the Etihad Stadium, meaning he would be available for a free transfer at the end of the month if fresh terms with City can't be agreed upon. However, according to the Evening Standard, Saudi clubs have now entered the race to sign the German international, preparing to blow the Gunners and Barcelona out of the water in terms of a mega-money contract offer.
A number of stars have joined the Saudi top flight recently, with Karim Benzema swapping Real Madrid for Al Ittihad earlier this week.
Martinelli mission to be repeated
Arsenal are keen to recruit a talented youngster in the same way they signed winger Gabriel Martinelli back in the summer of 2019.
That is according to James McNicholas of The Athletic, who has claimed that the Gunners may approach the market in a similar way when it comes to finding young gems. Speaking on the Arsecast podcast, McNicholas said: “I think there might be young players who we sign, we might sign a 19 or 20-year-old who Mikel Arteta thinks the world of who could come into the first-team squad straight away.
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“I think they’re looking at a couple of South American talents as they did last summer with Marquinhos, I think there are another two or three players of interest to Edu and his team that could be the new Martinelli potentially. “One of those guys who gets a chance in pre-season and goes on and does well.”
Edu handed transfer mission
According to The Evening Standard, Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke and his son Josh, who is the club's non-executive director, want the north London club to be a self-sufficient one.
This means that sporting director Edu knows that he needs to command larger fees for players being sold by the Gunners, something that will help increase the transfer kitty in terms of incoming signings. The likes of Kieran Tierney, Rob Holding and Nuno Tavares have all been linked with permanent exits ahead of the summer window as Mikel Arteta looks to shake up his squad.
football.london understands that Folarin Balogun, Nicolas Pepe and Austin Trusty all set to leave club on a permanent basis this summer after all three players enjoyed successful loan spells during the 2022/23 campaign with Reims, Nice and Birmingham City respectively.
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