Where do Arsenal need to strengthen in the transfer window? And which players will they be after? We take a look…
We consider Arsene Wenger’s potential transfer targets and see what the manager has had to say about his plans for the summer.
Meanwhile, we also have expert opinion on what areas of their squad Arsenal need to address…
What do they need?
Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas: “Wenger needs to unload six or seven of the weaker players and, rather than signing more squad players, he must bring in another world-class defender, a top midfielder and a 20+ goal striker.
“He needs another top midfield player with Santi Cazorla out. Raphael Varane or Virgil van Dijk would be ideal at centre-back and Alexandre Lacazette is the striker I wanted and hopefully the Atletico Madrid transfer ban means we’ve got a chance.
We need a solution to Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil now. I think Ozil will stay but Sanchez will probably go and losing 30 goals is really damaging.
Charlie Nicholas
“We need a solution to Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil now. I think Ozil will stay but Sanchez will probably go and losing 30 goals is really damaging.”
What has the manager said?
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger: “We cannot spend as much as every other club because some have external resources that allow them to be basically unlimited. That is not our case.
“But we can spend money because we have managed well the club. Let’s not forget that the amount of money spent is not necessarily a guarantee of success.
“Is Rob Holding a big signing? A big signing is not necessarily linked with the amount of money spent.
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“When you buy a player for £40m everyone will make positive judgements at the start. When you buy him for £2m everyone will say ‘anyway he cannot be good’.
“The quality is most of the time linked with the amount of money [paid], especially with players over 20, but sometimes it’s not always linked only with the money.”
Who will they target?
Arsenal confirmed their first signing of the summer on Tuesday when announcing that Sead Kolasinac will join on a free transfer after his contract with Schalke ended.
Further up field, the Gunners are reportedly chasing Monaco’s 18-year-old striker Kylian Mbappe, having had an £87m bid turned down according to French publication L’Equipe – who have claimed that Wenger is now preparing a £122m bid.
Wenger has also confirmed the club would be interested in Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez, while keeping Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez remains a priority.
What do the odds say?
Arda Turan – 6/4, according to Sky Bet at the time of writing on June 5
Riyad Mahrez – 2/1
Kylian Mbappe – 5/2
Alexandre Lacazette – 3/1
Thomas Lemar – 5/1
Ousmane Dembele – 8/1
Chris Smalling – 8/1
Andrea Belotti
Ben Gibson – 9/1
Sergio Aguero – 10/1
Sandro Ramirez – 10/1
Fraser Forster – 10/1
Jamie Vardy – 14/1
Ross Barkley – 16/1
Radja Nainggolan – 16/1
Christian Benteke – 16/1
Daniel Sturridge – 18/1
Renato Sanches – 18/1
Luke Shaw – 20/1