Arsenal have had an extremely busy start to their summer transfer window.
Brazilian duo Gabriel Jesus and Marquinhos have both arrived at the Emirates Stadium, as well as American goalkeeper Matt Turner and Portuguese midfielder Fabio Vieira. However, technical director Edu is far from finished as the transfer chief looks to bolster Mikel Arteta's young squad.
football.london reported earlier this year that Leicester City playmaker Youri Tielemans ' agent had a meeting with technical director Edu at the Gunners' London Colney training ground, with the north Londoners certainly interested in the player. football.london also understands that Arsenal have been holding off on finalising a deal but reports of other teams being interested in acquiring his services could change their stance.
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Now, AC Milan star Ismael Bennacer is the latest midfielder to be linked with a move to the Gunners, with reports from Italy claiming that they are preparing a £34million offer for the Algerian international. The 24-year-old previously wore the Arsenal shirt as a teenager before eventually leaving the club back in 2017, a decision he explained in December 2020.
Speaking to Goal about leaving the north London outfit, he said: "Why didn’t it work there? I arrived in England in July. The first two months I stayed in a hotel because I didn’t want to go and live with a family I didn’t know,” he said.
“I was 17, I was not of age and I couldn’t live alone, so my sister come to stay with me. Then Chaines joins me, with whom I had been engaged since school and who would become my wife in England.
“In September, finally, I see the pitch. In the League Cup, against Sheffield: Chamberlain gets hurt, Walcott gets in his place and after two minutes he gets hurt too, so Wenger throws me in. The problem is that he puts a lot of space on the left of the front three: it’s a role I’ve never played.
“I felt crazy pressure on me. I lost a few balls, but I also recovered fewer. After that I didn’t play anymore, but I have no regrets: I trained with important players like Özil and Cazorla.
“I still had a four-year contract with the English club, but I went where they really wanted me. I didn’t know Empoli, but I accepted to go down from the Premier League to the Italian Serie B because that was the club that wanted me most of all. The way I did with Milan: I chose them for their history, but even more because his project was the best for me.”
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