Mikel Arteta has already welcomed five new players to Arsenal this summer, with the Gunners being one of the Premier League's most prominent spenders. Edu has signed Marquinhos, Matt Turner, Fabio Vieira, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, but the north Londoners' technical director has shown no sign of slowing down.
Arsenal continue to be heavily linked with a handful of star-studded players; one of whom happens to Bayern Munich talisman Leroy Sane. And, whether it's a coincidence or not, the Gunners could house at least three former Manchester City stars - as the saying goes, 'if you can't beat them, join them'.
The 26-year-old, who sees his contract at the Allianz Arena expire in 2025, spent three and a half years with Arteta at the Etihad Stadium between 2016 and 2019. With a growingly uncertain future at the Bundesliga champions, Arsenal have emerged as a potential suitor for Sane.
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With all that being said, football.london has taken a look at all the latest transfer rumours surrounding a possible deal which could see Sane pen a deal at Arsenal before the summer window slams shut on September 1.
Asking price confirmed
Despite the 2022/23 campaign underway, an exit from Bayern is not off the cards for Sane this summer, according to Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg. It's said that the winger is 'not completely unsaleable' and if an offer of €60million to €70million (£50.6m to £59m) is tabled then the German giants will 'listen'.
While Sane could leave Bayern, the report adds that Bayern would ideally like to retain his services in hope that he finally fulfils his potential.
Bayern stance
According to Bayern transfer expert Georg Holzner, Bayern are expected to sell some of their more "well-known" players during the summer transfer window. Considering wingers Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman have both penned new long-term contracts at the Allianz Arena this year, Sane could potentially be one of these well-known players available for transfer, a major boost for the Gunners.
Long-standing Arsenal interest
Transfer guru Ben Jacobs has spoken about Sane's future with the Bavarian-based club, confirming that the 26-year-old was on the Gunners' shortlist before they tried to sign Brazilian winger Raphinha, who has now joined Barcelona instead. Speaking on The Done Deal Show, Jacobs said: “The Sane thing is something to watch in the coming weeks.
"It’s not a link that I have yet put to sources and contacts other than a month ago, and the intonation was that Real Madrid might come in for Sane and I think that they would consider it if another club made a move. A move to La Liga could be more likely, I’ve not heard rumblings at the Chelsea end, I’ve actually heard more rumblings from Arsenal that this was a name being considered at the beginning of the window, but then they turned their attentions to Raphinha.”
Arteta verdict
Sane is a huge fan of the Arsenal boss, crediting the Spaniard for his development back in 2020. Speaking to The Independent, the winger said: "I can just say positive things about Mikel Arteta. Since we started working together, he helped me a lot on the pitch. He tried to improve my football; he told me what I did good and what I did wrong, and he tried to work on it.
"Next to Pep, they both really helped me and improved me, to bring me to the next level. Even now, at Arsenal, for me you can see he’s doing a great job.
"You can see he has a concept, a way that he wants to play, a way that he wants his team to play, and obviously it will take some time until everybody really understands it. I think he will do a great job as a [head] coach too."
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