By Rob Worthington (Senior Writer)
The transfer window has been open for exactly a month and, while only one has been officially announced, Arsenal have completed two notable signings. Seasoned wide-man Willian has joined from Chelsea on a three-year-deal and young central defender Gabriel Magalhaes has been brought in to help strengthen Mikel Arteta’s backline.
Still, if our pre-season win against MK Dons showed us anything, we are still in desperate need for midfield reinforcement. Especially creativity-wise. Here are all the latest rumours concerning incomings and outgoings:
Incomings
Thomas Partey
Shockwaves were sent through Arsenal Twitter yesterday as Sport boldly announced that we had dropped our interest in long-term target Thomas Partey. They proclaimed that the Ghanaian’s personal demands were not acceptable to Arsenal financially and that we are not prepared to trigger his €50 million release clause.
However, since this announcement by Sport, such rumours have lost momentum and no other significant source has verified them. @TransferChecker claimed a week ago now that Partey will “almost certainly” join Arsenal and The Telegraph have confirmed that the Atletico Madrid man remains a key target for us. Far from dead in the water.
Houssem Aouar
It seems Arsenal have found themselves in a one-horse race to sign Houssem Aouar. The first indication of this is the fact that Juventus have turned their attention towards signing American prodigy Weston Mckennie and PSG’s Leandro Paredes. Secondly, Man City have realised that signing Lionel Messi this Summer is a genuine possibility. Thus, interest in Aouar from both clubs has cooled.
This leaves Arsenal as the only club who have sustained an intense interest in the 22-year-old Frenchman. Football.London have reported that our ability to purchase Aouar hinges upon the sales of the likes of Lucas Torreira, Mattéo Guendouzi and potentially Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Thiago Alcantara
It is believed that Arsenal have enquired about the availability of recent Champions League winner Thiago. The Spanish superstar midfielder is said to be available for as little as £23 million this Summer due to the expiration of his contract in 2021. Bayern are resigned to losing the 29-year-old.
Despite speculative suggestions that Mikel Arteta held a phone call with the former Barcelona man, the hopes of Arsenal fans were quashed somewhat this morning after a report from the reliable @CFBayern. He announced that the rumours linking Thiago with a move to North London are straightforwardly “not true.” Liverpool are the front-runners to sign the Spaniard in the coming weeks.
Outgoings
Ainsley Maitland-Niles
After a foray of reports earlier on in the week which insinuated Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ move to Wolves was almost complete, rumours have cooled regarding a potential move to the Midlands for the Hale End academy graduate. David Ornstein stated just yesterday that Arsenal had duly rejected bids of £15 million and £18 million from Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.
Nonetheless, Ornstein has suggested Wolves still have some hope with this one, while there is also interest from Germany. Arsenal are said to want upwards of £30 million for the versatile Englishman. It looks as if a move to Spurs for Matt Doherty is all but done, so Wolves’ hand could be forced sooner rather than later. Definitely looks like one that could get done at some point.
Lucas Torreira
According to the fairly reliable Di Marzio, Lucas Torreira is Fiorentina’s top target this Summer, and the Italian side are “expecting a positive response from Arsenal to conclude the deal.” It’s believed Arsenal would accept a bid in the region of £30 million.
However, Corriere dello Sport have inferred that such a move is far from complete. They report that Roma remain interested in the little Uruguayan and Arsenal may still be open to constructing a swap deal involving Amadou Diawara, who is capable of playing at the base of a midfield 3.
Sead Kolasinac
Rumours linking yet another defender away from Arsenal have surfaced this week, after it was revealed by Sky Germany that Schalke would like to bring Sead Kolasinac back to Gelsenkirchen, after the Bundesliga team let the Bosnian leave for free three years ago. They are said to be interested in an initial loan deal to bring back the wing-back.
Gazzetta dello Sport have suggested that AS Roma are also interested in the 27-year-old. The Italian side see the quoted £15 million as viable. One thing is for certain, Kolasinac’s Arsenal career could be all but over.
Till Next Time...
That's all for this week. Hopefully Arsenal would've made at least one significant announcement by the time we meet again. Anyways, as always, keep enjoying transfer season. Byeeeee.
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