What do Arsenal need to do on deadline day?
12 weeks after it opened, the 2021 summer transfer window will close on Tuesday night at 11pm. At the time of writing, 13 hours remain of what has been a hectic transfer window like no other. Huge deals have been completed, including Messi to PSG, the imminent Ronaldo to Manchester United and Willian terminating his Arsenal contract for Brazilian side Corinthians. But after their humbling 5-0 loss to Manchester City on the weekend, it is clear that Arsenal have much work to do on what will be an extremely busy deadline day.
Outgoings
Arsenal have known for a while that they need to move some of their players on. The size of our current squad is way too bloated, and there are some players who are clearly not good enough for the team and who are just sitting around, collecting their paycheck. Players that come to mind are Hector Bellerin, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Sead Kolasinac and Mohammad Elneny.
Defenders
Hector Bellerin seems to be on his way to Spanish club Real Betis. The Athletic has now reported that it is a simple loan, no option to buy. The good news of course being that Bellerin won’t be at the club this year, with his wages taken care of. The bad news being that his future past this year is still undecided.
The situation with Ainsley Maitland-Niles is a complete mess – to say the least. The Athletic reported on Monday morning that Everton had made a loan offer for the English right-back. However Arsenal reportedly blocked the move. Consequently, the player took to social media, posting an Instagram story with the words, “All I wanna do is go where I’m wanted and where I’m gonna play.” This effectively means his relationship with Arteta is broken beyond repair, so I would be surprised to see him feature much this season if he does not get his summer move. The latest reports suggest that he will meet with Arteta on Tuesday to discuss his future.
Sead Kolasinac was at one point close to joining Fenerbahce. However the deal has fallen through, with the player asking for his contract to be fully paid off. After he featured against Manchester City, it seems unlikely that he will go anywhere on deadline day.
Midfielders
Mohammad Elneny will most likely stay at the club for another year. However, Arsenal fans’ favourite twitter source @TheAFCBell, reported on Monday night that an unnamed Turkish club was making a last-minute permanent approach for the Egyptian. You’d like to think that Arsenal wouldn’t stand in the way of this deal, and that if the interest is genuine, Elneny would finally leave the Emirates.
Attackers
Reiss Nelson is on his way to dutch club Feyenoord on a year long loan. This comes after Feyenoord target Amad Diallo, picked up an injury in training, so the dutch team pursued the Arsenal winger. Nelson will also sign a contract extension with Arsenal, running until 2023.
Eddie Nketiah seems to be staying at Arsenal, despite some late interest from Crystal Palace. Palace were strongly pursuing a striker this summer, and after having a £10 million approach for Nketiah rejected, they turned their attention to Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard. That deal now seems likely to go through. Daily AFC understands there is no interest anywhere else for the 22-year-old. Due to his unwillingness to sign a new Arsenal contract, we could very possibly see Nketiah leave the club next year on a free transfer.
Incomings
Arsenal clearly need better players. And while £129 million has already been spent on ‘improvements’, Arsenal fans are calling out for more. The two positions that are expected to be targets on deadline day are right-back and central midfield.
Right-back
Notably bad performances against Man City came from Calum Chambers and Cedric Soares. With Bellerin leaving and Maitland-Niles falling out with the club, these two represent our only options at right-back. One target Arsenal were looking at was Barcelona’s Emerson Royal. However he is now Spurs bound for €30 million, representing a good deal for our North London rivals.
However, as I am writing this, news has emerged that Arsenal are interested in previous Tottenham target Takehiro Tomiyasu. The Bologna player can played at centre-back or right-back. The deal is agreed between the clubs, but Arsenal are working on outgoings before confirming the signing.
Central midfield
It seemed like improving the midfield was a priority coming into this summer transfer window. Since then, Arsenal have signed exciting youngster Albert Sambi Lokonga, and extended Granit Xhaka’s contract. We have been rewarded with a classic Granit Xhaka moment, as he picked up an unnecessary red card on the weekend against Manchester City, one of the many reasons we lost that particular match. The midfield links went quiet after that. But with Thomas Partey being very injury-prone and Xhaka now set to miss the next three games, a midfielder could yet come to the club on deadline day.
The main target would be Houssem Aouar from Lyon. He has been an Arsenal target for years now, and his price has never been cheaper. Lyon would reportedly be open to a loan with obligation to buy move for the french midfielder this summer. Spurs are also interested in the player. Many Arsenal fans are also suggesting that Arsenal sign Renato Sanches from Lille, as The Athletic understands the deal is very much hanging in the balance as it stands.
So it remains to be seen what Arsenal can do on transfer deadline day. We can expect a busy one, certainly on the outgoings front. A signing or two would certainly ease the tension among the Arsenal fanbase at the moment.
