Arsenal handed HUGE boost in striker pursuit

Suraj Radia

• 11 Jan 2024 12:24 CST
• 3 min read

Arsenal may be paying close attention to their rivals this summer after Newcastle’s CEO admitted key stars such as Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Sven Botman sold in the near future in order to continue their progress as a club.

The Magpies became the richest club in the world when Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund bought them in 2021 and they have spent more than £400 million on transfers since that time.

Newcastle announced losses of £73.4m in their latest financial results and CEO Darren Eales revealed that ‘every player has a price’ due to the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules (PSR), which limits their spending potential.

“On any player, at any time, it depends on circumstances. It's difficult to hypothesis but, if we're offered £1bn for one of those players, then no-one could argue against that making sense,” Eales said.

"Any decision we make will always be against the backdrop of the medium to long-term benefit for the club. It's difficult to say specifically on certain players, but I can say that, if we're going to get to where we want to get to, at times it is necessary to trade your players.

"Whether that is because of the contract length of the player in question, the offer is too good to refuse, you need to reload in certain areas, but all of this could make sense to trade that player.”

Newcastle set to emulate rivals by selling stars

Eales also compared Newcastle’s situation to clubs such as Liverpool, Aston Villa and West Ham, who have sold stars like Philippe Coutinho, Jack Grealish and Declan Rice in recent times in order to continue building their squads.

The revelation could have a significant impact on Arsenal, who are believed to have reignited their interest in Isak having considered signing him when he played for Real Sociedad.

The Gunners are looking for a long-term solution to their striker conundrum and Isak, who has scored 14 goals in all competitions this season, could now be considered an attainable target for the right price.

Another of Arsenal’s former targets, Guimaraes, is perhaps more likely to leave, having recently penned a new contract which is believed to contain a release clause of around £100m, with Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona said to maintain a strong interest in him.