Frankly, Arsenal never used to be worth watching in the transfer market. Remember the summer where their entire business consisted of signing an ageing Petr Cech?
Arguably not even the worst transfer window at the Emirates Stadium, either – oh, how times have changed. The Gunners are free-spending with the best of them these days, spending over £100 million last summer on Declan Rice alone, while showing serious statements of intent when it came to the signings of David Raya and Kai Havertz from Premier League rivals.
READ ALSO: Germany fans banned from buying number 44 kits over Nazi…
Where Mikel Arteta goes next is going to be fascinating, with Arsenal on the cusp of glory and obvious deficiencies in the playing squad. So who comes in?
Let’s start with the most obvious outgoing. David Raya’s loan move from Brentford will be made permanent this summer for around £27m. That leaves Aaron Ramsdale scrambling around for a new club, just three years on from his move to the Emirates Stadium.
The England international wants regular minutes and having signed a new deal as recently as last year – you’ve got to feel for him – Arsenal will be confident of raising far more than the £30m that they spent on him. But for all the discourse of having two top keepers – as Mikel Arteta claimed, there is apparently no No.1 – Arsenal will not be spending anywhere near £30m to replace Rambo.
A suitable stopper in the style Raya, happy to play cup competitions at most, can be acquired for no more than £15m, tops. No one has been linked yet but it’s almost certainly going to happen, boosting the coffers for other positions.
