Edu admits Arsenal 'still need to balance squad'

Stuart Telford

• 31 Aug 2023 20:22 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal sporting director Edu says there are still signings to be made this summer despite spending more than £200 million on new players.

The Gunners moved quickly this summer to acquire Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber from West Ham, Chelsea and Ajax respectively, and the three are settling in to varying degrees.

Rice has won plaudits for his ability to anchor the midfield, while Havertz, without a goal in four competitive games, has split early opinion. Timber, meanwhile, was only 50 minutes into his Premier League career when he tore his ACL, ruling him out for seven months.

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A replacement has been sought for the Dutchman, with Barcelona's Eric Garcia and Benfica's Alexander Bah thought to be top of Mikel Arteta's shortlist, and Edu is optimistic more reinforcements will arrive.

Edu: 'strong strategy'

"Well as everybody can see we made one very strong strategy, to be very proactive at the beginning of the transfer window, and I think we did it," Edu told TNT Sports of a period that also saw David Raya arrive from Brentford, initially on loan.

"And now we are talking about trying to balance the squad a little bit better. We keep talking to a few clubs but so far we're really happy with the transfer window and we have to say of course thank you very much to everyone who works in the club to make that happen."

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Arsenal still have a transfer budget to spend having made £50m back selling the likes of Folarin Balogun and Granit Xhaka to Bayern Leverkusen and Monaco, but whether they can get anything over the line in time remains to be seen.

As well as a Timber replacement, Arteta is understood to want Brazilian midfielder Bitello, who currently stars for Gremio. The club have also knocked back Chelsea's advances for Emil Smith Rowe.