Gunners sporting director Edu Gaspar could opt to re-sign a former Arsenal star to replace an exit-bound member of their squad.
Players who could still leave Arsenal before deadline day
Emile Smith Rowe sealed his £35 million move to Fulham earlier this week, with the Whites announcing his club-record capture as the Hale End academy graduate waved goodbye to Arsenal.
Arteta and Edu discuss signing Brazil ace as £50m Arsenal player nears exit
The Gunners chiefs have held internal talks over a move.
ByEmilio GalantiniAug 3, 2024
The 24-year-old, who played just 13 Premier League games under Mikel Arteta last season, started just three times and was largely out of action due to a knee injury – with Arsenal making the business decision to sell given Smith Rowe had just two years left on his contract.
Arteta would've liked to keep Smith Rowe at Arsenal in an ideal world, according to reliable journalist Charles Watts, but the Spaniard could well see the midfielder's transfer fee reinvested in a move for the heavily linked Mikel Merino.
Appearances
115
Goals
18
Assists
13
Yellow cards
2
Red cards
0
Minutes played
5,846
Arsenal are pushing to sign Merino from Real Sociedad, coming after his excellent campaign at club level and impressive performances for Spain at Euro 2024. To fund further additions, it is believed a host of other players could be sacrificed after Smith-Rowe.
Indeed, it is believed both Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson are in talks to leave Arsenal as well, with the former attracting interest from Marseille and the latter previously linked to a West Ham move.
We relayed a report this weekend that Nketiah is on the verge of leaving as Arsenal consider signing Joao Pedro from Brighton, so the Englishman's exit could well be one to watch.
The same can be said for his compatriot, goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who has been heavily linked with an Emirates Stadium exit after losing his No 1 spot to David Raya last season.
"It’s a matter of when Ramsdale leaves, not if," said Watts to CaughtOffside recently.
"The key thing for Arsenal is getting value for money. I saw an initial fee of £15 million mentioned in reports last week and that is quite frankly ridiculous. Arsenal signed Ramsdale for nearly £30m two years ago and he has developed into a far better 'keeper since then.
"He’s still young, he’s homegrown, an established England international and has a long-term contract."
Edu could re-sign Wojciech Szczesny to replace Ramsdale at Arsenal
As rumours continue to circulate around the 26-year-old and his future, with Arsenal apparently prepared to entertain loan bids for Ramsdale, there has been an update courtesy of HITC.
The outlet claims Edu and co could turn to a former star to fill the void left by Ramsdale – Juventus keeper Wojciech Szczesny. The £197,000-per-week ace could be on the way out of Juve soon, and he's apparently an option to succeed Ramsdale alongside Espanyol keeper Joan Garcia.
Arsenal could re-sign Szczesny to replace Ramsdale and fill the No 2 slot behind Raya, or perhaps even compete with the Spaniard, so it will be interesting to see how much it would cost to get the Pole back to north London.