- 3 hours ago
Arsenal striker deal announced by Ornstein
Arsenal are close to completing a deal that will see striker Eddie Nketiah leave the club to join Nottingham Forest, David Ornstein has confirmed.
Nketiah has been a player close to the exit door at the Emirates Stadium for much of the summer, with a deal to Marseille breaking down over the Gunners’ asking price.
If the Ligue 1 side refused to match the expectations of Mikel Arteta’s side, Forest are closing in on a deal.
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Ornstein reports for The Athletic that the Premier League outfit had an offer worth €29.3 million (£25m) knocked back, with Arsenal holding out for something more like €35-41m.
Nketiah’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) stands at only €14.4m, while the 25-year-old has three years on his contract remaining.
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Nketiah set for huge Forest contract
While the England forward was ready to take a significant pay cut to move to Marseille, he is set to be one of Nottingham Forest's best-paid players in history, according to a report from TeamTalk.
Indeed, Nketiah is set to land a bumper offer from the Premier League club. It is claimed that he will receive a salary around €140,000 (£120,000) per week with the City Ground outfit, which will make him their top earner. This is currently what he is paid by the Gunners.
Should Arsenal offload the striker, it will open the door to a new arrival joining the attacking corps, with the likes of Victor Osimhen of Napoli and Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting CP both strongly linked with a move to the club over the summer months.
With Gabriel Jesus set to stay at the club and Kai Havertz’s strong form in front of goal continuing in the Premier League opener against Wolves, there is no guarantee, however, that Arsenal will be willing to spend the type of big money required to lure one of their top targets to the club, with both having had a price tag of more than €100m attached to their heads.