Romano KNOWS Arsenal’s transfer plan as Arteta switches focus

Robin Bairner

• 20 Jul 2023 11:29 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal have completed their priority transfer business this summer by signing Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber, but manager Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu are ready to make more moves, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Gunners finished second in the Premier League last season behind Manchester City and are seeking to strengthen their squad ahead of a fresh assault on the title.

According to football transfer news expert Romano, though, that means that the Gunners will first need to sell players in order to buy.

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FootballTransfers revealed in May that Arteta had been handed a war chest worth £200 million to spend this summer, but with the club’s three priority signings have burned through this figure, the only way to fund fresh acquisitions is by offloading players first.

“My understanding for now is that the priority for Arsenal at the moment is to offload and sell players,” Romano told Caught Offside. “I think that’s pretty normal after the big spending on Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice.

“As previously reported, Thomas Partey is someone who has interest and who could leave if an important offer comes in, while Folarin Balogun is attracting interest from Inter Milan.

“After that we will see about more additions, but at the moment I’m told there’s no bid or concrete negotiation for Mohamed Kudus. Brighton have always been interested in Kudus this summer and he remains on their list.”

Who are Arsenal going to sell?

Among the players that Arsenal are likely to sell are Nicolas Pepe and Kieran Tierney.

Left-back Tierney is set to receive reduced minutes after falling out of favour last season and a deal could be struck with the likes of Newcastle interested in the Scotland star, though the Gunners are likely to find it harder to offload record signing Pepe.