Romano announces ‘EXCITING’ Arsenal transfer

Robin Bairner

23 Mar 2024 09:29 GMT
3 min read

Fabrizio Romano has announced that Arsenal are progressing with an “exciting” summer transfer deal – but fans of the Gunners may not share that opinion.

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With manager Mikel Arteta is looking for a new No.9, it means that someone is likely to have to make way in the squad, and Romano has announced that Eddie Nketiah is likely to be collateral damage from this move.

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Nketiah is very much seen on the periphery of the Arsenal squad by Arteta. The 24-year-old has been used almost exclusively as a substitute since starting against Newcastle on 4 November.

He typically gets 10-20 minutes to impress but in recent matches against Sheffield United, against whom he scored a hat-trick in October, and Brentford, he was not given any pitch time at all. It was a clear message from Arteta that his time is up.

Romano on Nketiah

Romano reports that Nketiah, who is under contract until 2027, is likely to leave in the summer in what the transfer expert describes as an “exciting” deal.

“The future of Eddie Nketiah at Arsenal is up in the air as there is a real possibility that the player will leave the Emirates Stadium this summer,” he writes for the Daily Briefing.

“Although the player has played 33 games for Mikel Arteta this season, the 24-year-old could be used to make way for a new striker, which is one of the priorities in the summer for the Gunners.

“Nketiah’s situation is very open but there is nothing concrete yet. There has always been interest from the Premier League and also from the Bundesliga, so I'd keep a close eye on these two solutions.

“This will be an exciting transfer story to watch over the coming months.”

The Hail End Academy graduate has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €17.7 million, though his peak ETV was €33.6m in September 2022 shortly after he signed a new deal with the club.

FootballTransfers previously revealed that Fenerbahce are following Nketiah's situation.