By Sir Hardly Anyone
This is the third summer in which we have kept a record of many of the players who are tipped to join Arsenal when the transfer window opens.
Several interesting pointers of late. First, although there was a little bit of a slow down once while we waited to find out who the next man would be, by and large the rumours just kept rolling along as if nothing in the managerial situation was changing.
Second, when we first recorded the list for this summer, we noticed a very strange effect in that there was a strong preponderance of players from the earlier part of the alphabet. Now slowly we are finding players in the latter part of the alphabet appearing.
It almost looks like someone had an alphabetical list of players and started making up rumours as he went through the book. That couldn’t be true could it?
Whatever the situation we have 70 players now listed and our target is 120 by the time the window crashes into the ground on 9 August. Here they are. More are undoubtedly soon about to come out of the ground.
The target, as per last summer and the summer before is three transfers. Quite a few players to choose from already.
| No. | Player | From | Source | Information |
| 1 | Yacine Adli | PSG | Sport Review. Talk Sport says the deal is certainly on for a mere £250,000. Mirror says it is for sure. | Barcelona Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Juventus want him. He’s a wonderkid. |
| 2 | Marco Asensio | Real Madrid | Guardian | Liverpool will pay up to £131m, Chelsea also keen. |
| 3 | Álvaro Odriozola Arzallus | Real Sociedad | Football London | Mainly right back can also play on the wing |
| 4 | Leon Bailey | Bayer Leverkusen | Talk Sprout; Football London | Cost £100m, he’s a winger or a midfielder who gives assists. Chelsea more likely |
| NEW | Ever Banega | Sevilla | Daily Star | Argentine player, central midfield |
| 6 | Jack Butland | Stoke | The Sun, 101 Great Goals | Liverpool also after this keeper |
| 7 | Karim Benzema | Real Mad | EPR Scouts, Football Transfer Tavern, Diario Gol, | Deal agreed £35m. No €60 million, |
| 8 | Emre Can | Liverpool | Fourth Official | Liverpool won’t give him an extension |
| 9 | Jasper Cillessen | Barcelona | Mundo Deportivo, Daily Cannon | A keeper. |
| 10 | Doucoured | Watford | Football London | Play next to Ramsey to bring “much needed brawn and steel to a weak midfield.” |
| 11 | Ousmane Dembele | Barcelona (joined from Dortmund for £96m) | Express, Don Balon, Arsenal News, Gunnersphere, Telefoot | Swap deal with Bellerin even though we don’t need any more forwards and he is injury prone, but is a friend of Aub’s. Says he’s not moving |
| 12 | Kerem Demirbay | Hoffenheim | TalkSport. Liga Financial, Star, AFC Fever | Midfielder, AFC price agreed, Liverpool want him. Price agreed |
| 13 | Leander Dendoncker | Anderlecht | Fourth Official | Defensive midfield, creative midfield… |
| 14 | Abdoulaye Doucoure | Watford | Hertfordshire Mercury | Goalkeeper. Watford want to keep him. Tots want him |
| 15 | Johnny Evans | WBA | Daily Mirror, Football London | He’s the key man we need. £3m from WBA if they go down |
| 16 | Nabil Fekir | Olympique Lyonnais | Arsenal’s number 1 target; attacking midfield | |
| 17 | Emil Forsberg | RB Leipzig | Sportwitness and Calcio Mercato | A replacement for Alexis Sanchez |
| 18 | Fred | Shakhtar | Gibfootballshow | Arsenal to get him for £30m |
| 19 | Willem Geubbels | Lyon | Football London | 16 years old forward, Barce, Leipzig and Chelsea also want him |
| 20 | Alex Grimaldo | Benfica | Read Arsenal | Left back. Man U, PSG & Monaco fancy him |
| 21 | Goncalo Guedes | PSG | Liga Financial | PSG must sell because of FFP, Arsenal have announced interest |
| 22 | Kai Havertz | Bayer Leverkusen | Metro, Mail, Tribal Football | AFC and Liverpool want him. Midfielder; B,L’s youngest ever player |
| 23 | Dean Henderson | Man U; Shrewsbury | Mirror, Football London | Wants to leave to get 1st team football. He’s a keeper |
| 24 | Ahmed Hegazi | West Brom | Transfer Tavern | Defender |
| 25 | Lorenzo Insigne. | Napoli | CalcioMercato.it. Football fancast | An attacker, aged 26, Italian international |
| 26 | Jakub Jankto | Udinese | Teamtalk | It’s either Arsenal or AC Milan |
| 27 | Jorginho | Napoli | Hot Stepanovs | Faster and smaller than Xhaka |
| 28 | Kalidou Koulibaly | Napoli | Daily Mirror, Gunnersphere, Guardian, Corriere Dello Sport, Tribal Football | Centre back; top priority, Chelsea, Man C and Liverpool want him |
| 29 | Layvin Kurzawa | PSG | Sportsmole, the Week, | To replace Bellerin |
| 30 | Alban Lafont | Toulouse | Arsenal Mania, Daily Canon | Goalkeeper, Boyhood supporter of Arsenal. “Set to leave”. But he’s only 19. |
| 31 | Thomas Lemar | Monaco | ArsenalNewsHQ; Mirror; TalkSport. Star, Different League | Deal confirmed; has rejected a new contract. All go!!! Or he has “become available” |
| 32 | Matthias De Ligt | Ajax | Football London, Mirror | Centre back; Tots and Man C also want him. Has handed in a transfer request |
| 33 | Bernd Leno | Bayer Leverkusen | Football London, Daily Express, Bild | A keeper available for just £22m. The story has popped up again after a month of silence. Express is certain it is on. |
| 34 | Diogo Leite | Porto | A Bola (which is a Portuguese “outlet” not a virulent disease; Guardian | Centre back |
| NEW | Joel Lopez | Barcelona | Sports Lens | 21 year old left midfield |
| 36 | Lozano | PSV | Sport 360, Arsenal mania | Winger who can cut inside |
| 37 | James Maddison | Norwich | Mirror, Sport Review, Birmingham Mail says it is about to happen | Midfield playmaker; Tottenham, Everton, Brighton Southampton & Man C also want him |
| 38 | Harry Maguire | Leicester | Sky Sports | Centre half. Man U also want him. |
| 39 | Malcolm | Bordeaux | FootballBible, Sport Review, Gunnerspheree, Football London | Winger; everyone is interested; he says he goes in the summer. But might go to China. No will play in a 3 man line behind the number 9. |
| 40 | Joao Mario | Inter on loan at WHU | Fourth Official | Midfield, and said to love London |
| 41 | Lautaro Martinez | Racing Club de Avellaneda | Gunnersphere | Striker. Inter have offered €20million |
| 42 | Anthony Martial | Man U | Sun, 4th Official | Signed by United from AC Monaco in 2015, the £75.7m |
| 43 | Max Meyer | Schalke 04. | Football London, Daily Canon, Guardian, Talk Sport, Express. Contract ends this season | Attacking midfield or playmaker. Liverpool battling with Arsenal New Santi Cazorla |
| 44 | Keylor Navas | Real Madrid | Don Ballon, HITC, | A goalkeeper looking for work. He’s 31 |
| Update | Robert Navarro | Barcelona | Daily Mail, Canon | He’s 15 and plans to leave on his 16th birthday. Arsenal have made an offer |
| 46 | Wilfred Ndidi | Leicester | Mad About PL, Goonertalk, African Football, Sun | Midfielder, Man U want him too |
| 47 | Saul Niguez | At Madrid | Mirror, Arsenal Station | £130m will get him. Midfielder |
| 48 | Abulkadir Omur | Trabzonspor | Turkish football says Ozil recommends him | Central midfield |
| 49 | Oguzhan Ozyakup | Besiktas | Mail. Football London says Wenger obsessed the transfer | Arsenal to bring back their ex-player at the end of his contract |
| NEW | Danilo Pereira | Porto | O Jogo | Defensive midfield, currently injured |
| 51 | Pablo Moreno | Barcelona | Mundo Deportivo | He’s 15 and his contract runs out at the end of the season |
| 52 | Jan Oblak | Atletico Mad | FootballBible; Gibfootballshow | Goalkeeper also wanted by Chelsea and Liverpool. 100m euros. |
| 53 | Panagiotis Retsos | Bayer Leverkusen | Goal, 4th official | Greek South African defender |
| NEW | Ivan Rakitic | Barcelona | Star | Attacking midfield |
| Update | Sokratis Papastathopoulos | Borussia Dortmund | Birmingham Live, Gazzetta dello Sport, Football London, Evening Standard, Read Arsenal | Man U, Junventus, Chelsea interested in 29 year old defender. Arsenal now favourites |
| 56 | Richarlison | Watford | EPL Scouts, 4th Official | Forward, Chels & Tots also; Arsenal miss out & Arsenal to hijack deal, both on same site!!! |
| 57 | Daniele Rugani | Juventus | Whoscored | Defender. Agent confirms |
| Update | Jean-Michael Seri | Nice | Mentioned on Arsenal.com. From the Mirror and Metro, Star, Mail, Standard, Hard Tackle | Midfielder but Arsenal have been too slow and Chelsea have got him, just as they lost out last window. |
| 59 | Andre Silva | Milan | Mad about EPL | Attacking midfield “sensation” but failed to show his attributes this year. Wolverhampton also interested. |
| 60 | Chris Smalling | Man U | Daily Canon, Sport 360, Daily Star, Guardian | £25m will get him |
| Update | Caglar Soyuncu | Freiburg | Football Whispers, Arsenal Station, Sky Sports, Telegraph | Central midfield. Liverpool, Man C, Dortmund “in race”. He wants a guarantee of 1st team footie. |
| NEW | Anderson Talisca | Benfica on loan to Besiktas | O Jogo | Brazilian attacking midfield |
| 63 | Cengiz Ünder | Roma | Tuttomercato; he’s a goalscoring winger | £26m offered £40m demanded |
| NEW | Josha Vagnoman | Hamburg | ESPN (2nd youngster player in the German league ever) | Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton all want him |
| 65 | Timo Werner | Leipzig | Arsenal mania, Sun | 21 year old who has scored a multitude of goals |
| 66 | Ben Wilmot | Stevenage | Sportsmole, Gunnersphere. The 72 | 18 year old played a dozen or so games. Totts also interested. Price is £2m |
| 67 | Wilfried Zaha | Crystal Palace | Liga Financial | Arsenal making a bid of £25m |
| 68 | Cristian Zapata | Milan | Giants Football News | Defender |
| 69 | Piotr Zielinski | Napoli | The Mirror | Midfielder: “An essential signing” |
| 70 | Andrija Zivkovic | Benfica | Football Facts, The Record, EatSleepSports ArsenalStation, Telegraph, Giants, Tribal Football, Sport Witness | 21 year old striker. Man U also want him Price is £52m |
Hey!!! I suppose the summer transfer window opened on the 17th of May for English Clubs.
The summer transfer window has already been opened for English clubs since on the 17th of this month? But does the opening covered the PL clubs? If so, then, we should be expecting the revealing of 3 senior signings by Arsenal before the World Cup starts if AFC will allow the former Gunners boss, Monsieur Arsene Wenger’s era of signing at least one new senior player early into the window to continue under Unai Emery, the new Gunners boss.
The media can continue to tip as many players they could whom they believe Arsenal will sign and as many ones they also believe Arsenal will sell this summer. But by the of this summer window, AFC could end up signing only 3 new players for revamping their senior team squad in readiness for next season’s campaign more especially in the Premier League Title chase which Arsenal MUST win if the newly appointed Gunners boss, Unai Emeri is to convince some doubting Thomases in the Gooners camp he’ll be able to sit on the Gunners boss’ hot seat up to the 3 years deal he has signed and even sit on it longer than that time at the Emirates Stadium.
And depending on his managerial acumen, the £50m that is said to be available only for Arsenal transfer kitty this summer as being reported in the media can be sufficient for Unai Emeri to use it as a capital starting cash to push tp do all the 3 senior signings he’s likely to recommend to the AFC’s player transfer hierarchy to approve their signings for him to have them at Arsenal this summer.
Nevertheless, Unai Emeri has to move fast like lightning moves and working with the AFC’s CEO Ivan Gazidis, the Arsenal’s Director of football relation, Raul Sanllehi and the head of recruitment at the club, Sven Mislintat to identity the 2 senior Gunners he wants out of the club and the 3 new ones he wants in at the club. And all these 5 deals for the 3 incomers and the 2 outgoings should be concluded before the World Cup kicks off. I believe Unai and these 3 top Arsenal officers know the reason for finalising all the 5 transfer deals they could dealt on before the World Cup starts.
Unless a top class ‘keeper or central defender become available, I can’t see us bringing anybody in this window. Emery will want to look at what he has including players out on loan (Perez for one).
Might consider offers for those out of the picture long term (Jenks) and some of the kids, but I think we’re more likely to do business in the winter window.