by Sir Hardly Anyone
From the mountains of Rutland in Englandshire, home of the nation’s finances and wealth, I can now give you an indication that this is going to be a record year for rumours of Arsenal transfers.
In the summer of 2016 we reached a grand total of 115 transfer rumours by the time the window “slammed shut” and smashed all the glass.
2017 was a real disappointment and many journalists got the sack as the total was only a miserable 92. Many of these poor sad souls can now be seen walking the streets of central and east London mumbling “I got one, I got one” as the charities for the homeless work the streets at night ushering them off to shelters.
But this year we are already back to 115 pieces of mindless gibberish and other nonsense. And so with a loud and hearty voice, Untold Arsenal urges all gibbering journalists everywhere to pour fourth their craziest of ideas about the players Arsenal are buying this year, so we can make 2018 an absolute bumper season of transfers that never happen.
Here are the 115.
| 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. FootLon (also run by the Mirror) says no go. | Barcelona Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Juventus want him. He’s a wonderkid. All set to sign NOW (DZ) |
| 2 | Toby Alderweireld | Tottenham | Football London | Man U interested. FL urges urgent action |
| NEW | Nabil Allioui | Monaco | Blizzard: Arsenal battling with Man City. | Left wing, 19 years old |
| 4 | Marco Asensio | Real Madrid | Guardian | Liverpool will pay up to £131m, Chelsea also keen. |
| 5 | Álvaro Odriozola Arzallus | Real Sociedad | Football London | Mainly right back can also play on the wing |
| Update | Leon Bailey | Bayer Leverkusen | Talk Sprout; Football London, Sport Review – we are anxious to get him. | Cost £100m, he’s a winger or a midfielder who gives assists. Chelsea more likely |
| 6 | Mario Balotelli | Nice | Football London (who else?), Mirror, La Gazetta dello Sport | “He’s rebuilt his reputation in France” |
| 7 | Ever Banega | Sevilla | Daily Star, 101 Great Goals, Estadio Deportivo and Sports Keeda, agent spotted. €20 million release clause | Argentine player, central midfield. Foot Lond keep mentioning him. |
| 8 | Mehdi Benatia | Juventus | Sport Review. He’s a 31 year old centre back. The manager wants him. | Dortmund are the rivals |
| 10 | Jack Butland | Stoke | The Sun, 101 Great Goals | Liverpool also after this keeper |
| 11 | Karim Benzema | Real Mad | EPR Scouts, Football Transfer Tavern, Diario Gol, | Deal agreed £35m. No €60 million, |
| 12 | Emre Can | Liverpool | Fourth Official | Liverpool won’t give him an extension |
| 13 | Matteo Cardinali | Roma | Tuttomercatoweb, Mirror, Express | A 17 year old keeper. |
| 14 | Jasper Cillessen | Barcelona | Mundo Deportivo, Daily Cannon | A keeper. |
| 15 | Kingsley Coman | Bayern Munich | Express certain that Arsenal are after him. Emery to pounce says Team Talk. Arsenal News HQ says he is on his way. | Attacker. FootLond quote “reports” as its source. A likely tale. |
| 16 | Doucoured | Watford | Football London | Play next to Ramsey to bring “much needed brawn and steel to a weak midfield.” |
| Update | Ousmane Dembele | Barcelona (joined from Dortmund for £96m) | Express, Don Balon, Arsenal News, Gunnersphere, Telefoot; Arsenal Mania says no deal and that has become the general theme. Read Arsenal says we are in talks. | 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 |
| 18 | Kerem Demirbay | Hoffenheim | TalkSport. Liga Financial, Star, AFC Fever | Midfielder, AFC price agreed, Liverpool want him. Price agreed |
| 19 | Leander Dendoncker | Anderlecht | Fourth Official | Defensive midfield, creative midfield… |
| 20 | Abdoulaye Doucoure | Watford | Hertfordshire Mercury | Goalkeeper. Watford want to keep him. Tots want him |
| 21 | Johnny Evans | WBA | Daily Mirror, Football London | He’s the key man we need. £3m from WBA if they go down. FL just reignited the story in early June. |
| 22 | Nabil Fekir | Olympique Lyonnais | Mail. Football London. Football Bible says the deal is on and the price has dropped. | Arsenal’s number 1 target; attacking midfield. FL says maybe Liverpool |
| 23 | Fellaini | Man U | Sport Witness, HLN, Read Arsenal. | He’s a midfielder and he’s 30. No we “were never close!” |
| 24 | Junior Firpo | Real Betis | Sports Review. | A young replacement for Monreal for £22m |
| 25 | Marcelo Flores | Ipswich | Mirror, Express | The new wonderkid |
| 26 | Emil Forsberg | RB Leipzig | Sportwitness and Calcio Mercato. £47m. Although it wasn’t the 1st (see right) we are still interested – Star | A replacement for Alexis Sanchez. He’s going to be the first signing |
| 27 | Fred | Shakhtar | Gibfootballshow | Arsenal to get him for £30m |
| 28 | Willem Geubbels | Lyon | Football London | 16 years old forward, Barce, Leipzig and Chelsea also want him |
| 29 | Alex Grimaldo | Benfica | Read Arsenal | Left back. Man U, PSG & Monaco fancy him |
| 30 | Jose Gimenez | Atletico Madrid | Marca, TalkSport, SportsReview | £53m but no sooner is it announced than we are set to miss out on him. That hardly seems fair |
| 31 | Alexander Golovin | CKSA Moscow | Football London. Arsenal AFC blog. Emery has urged AFC hierarchy to get him. “Emery sanctions €25m move for World Cup star”. But Arsenal Mania say the price has just doubled. Monaco confident of getting him. | Midfielder. One of the players we must buy before the WC |
| Update | Andre Gomes | Barcelona | £30m offered: Canon, Off the post, Sport English, Express. Foot Lond says talks are ongoing. Sport Witness says “this week” 101 Great Goals says we are in talks. He will replace Ramsey | Arsenal have to sell Ramsey; Arsenal are beating Tots and Chelsea. Deal over after he got injured in pre-season (101) |
| 33 | Sam Greenwood | Newcastle | Daily Mail says Arsenal are in pole position to sign him | 16 year old striker |
| 34 | Goncalo Guedes | PSG | Liga Financial. Cadena Cope says Arsenal are still interested | PSG must sell because of FFP, Arsenal have announced interest |
| 35 | Matteo Guendouzi | Lorient | Ouest France, Star, Short Fuse. £7m. Sport Review says Arsenal drop a big hint he is on the way. RMC Sport “he is set to fly in for a medical” | He’s 19. Medical today. He’s a deep lying midfielder. Played 17 times last season in Lg2. |
| 36 | Kai Havertz | Bayer Leverkusen | Metro, Mail, Tribal Football | AFC and Liverpool want him. Midfielder; B,L’s youngest ever player |
| 37 | Dean Henderson | Man U; Shrewsbury | Mirror, Football London | |
| Update | Hector Herrera | Porto | Mirror. The price is negotiable | Midfielder, £15m |
| NEW | Tomas Holy | Gillingham | Used to play for Sparta. Everon, Palace, WHU all want him. | 19 year old Goalkeeper |
| 40 | Ahmed Hegazi | West Brom | Transfer Tavern | Defender |
| 41 | Lorenzo Insigne. | Napoli | CalcioMercato.it. Football fancast | An attacker, aged 26, Italian international |
| 42 | Jakub Jankto | Udinese | Teamtalk | It’s either Arsenal or AC Milan |
| 43 | Jorginho | Napoli | Hot Stepanovs | Faster and smaller than Xhaka |
| 44 | Lukas Kolstermann | Leipzig | Bild says yes but Football Fancast says no | Full back; can play left and right |
| 45 | Laurent Koscielny | Arsenal | Football London. Not a transfer of course but he is recovering from injury far quicker. | You know what he can do. |
| 46 | Kalidou Koulibaly | Napoli | Daily Mirror, Gunnersphere, Guardian, Corriere Dello Sport, Tribal Football | Centre back; top priority, Chelsea, Man C and Liverpool want him |
| 47 | Matteo Kovacic | Real Madrid | Star: Arsenal now lead race with Man Utd and Liverpool for Real Madrid wantaway | He’s a Croatian midfielder |
| 48 | Layvin Kurzawa | PSG | Sportsmole, the Week, | To replace Bellerin |
| 49 | Alban Lafont | Toulouse | Arsenal Mania, Daily Canon | Goalkeeper, Boyhood supporter of Arsenal. “Set to leave”. But he’s only 19. |
| 50 | Thomas Lemar | Monaco | ArsenalNewsHQ; Mirror; TalkSport. Star, Different League | Deal confirmed; has rejected a new contract. All go!!! Or he has “become available” |
| 51 | Stephan Lichtsteiner | Juventus | Just about everywhere | SIGNED. Right back, available free, he’s 34 and he will be the first signing. “It’s done” (Football London) |
| 52 | Matthias De Ligt | Ajax | Football London, Mirror | Centre back; Tots and Man C also want him. Has handed in a transfer request |
| 53 | Bernd Leno | Bayer Leverkusen | Football London, Daily Express (they are certain), Bild | A keeper available for just £22m. The story has popped up again after a month of silence.He will be first signing. |
| 54 | Diogo Leite | Porto | A Bola (which is a Portuguese “outlet” not a virulent disease; Guardian | Centre back |
| 55 | Stanislav Lobotka | Celta de Vigo | Arsenal Fever | He’s 23, a defensive midfielder |
| 56 | Joel Lopez | Barcelona | Sports Lens: Arsenal have agreed the deal. He’s available on a free. (Real Sport 13). Jeorge Bird says we have him & says he’s 16. Standard says he is set to arrive | 21 year old left midfield. No he’s 15 (Express). No he’s a defender says Caught Offside |
| 57 | Hirving Lozano | PSV | Sport 360, Arsenal mania. Played for Mexico and suddenly he is being mentioned as a winger who can cut inside. He’s staying at PSV – Talksport | Express, Sky Sports, Sun, Pain in the A. Mirror says it is Man U |
| 58 | 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 |
| 59 | Harry Maguire | Leicester | Sky Sports | Centre half. Man U also want him. |
| 60 | Malcolm | Bordeaux | FootballBible, Sport Review, Gunnerspheree, Football London. Arsenal Mania says no he is going to Everton. Balkan Talk says the deal is on. | 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. |
| 61 | Gelson Martins | Sporting Lisbon | “Arsenal fail with £26m bid to sign Sporting Lisbon star” Metro, Read Arsenal, Foot London. Later reports say cost is £52m! That failure has continued to be reported for four weeks. | HITC says Everton wants him. He’s a winger. WHU & Lazio want him too. “On his way to At. Mad.” |
| 62 | Joao Mario | Inter on loan at WHU | Fourth Official | Midfield, and said to love London |
| 63 | Lautaro Martinez | Racing Club de Avellaneda | Gunnersphere | Striker. Inter have offered €20million |
| 64 | Anthony Martial | Man U | Sun, 4th Official | Signed by United from AC Monaco in 2015, the £75.7m |
| 65 | Alex McCarthy | Southampton | Football London | Goalkeeper. |
| 66 | Max Meyer | Schalke 04. | Football London, Daily Canon, Guardian, Talk Sport, Express. Contract ends this season. FL still talking it up. No, wages demands too high. | Attacking midfield or playmaker. Liverpool battling with Arsenal New Santi Cazorla |
| 67 | Radja Nainggolan | Roma | The Sun, Gunnersphere | He’s a powerhouse midfielder and will cost £45m |
| 68 | Keylor Navas | Real Madrid | Don Ballon, HITC, | A goalkeeper looking for work. He’s 31 |
| 69 | Robert Navarro | Barcelona | Daily Mail, Canon | He’s 15 and plans to leave on his 16th birthday. Arsenal have made an offer |
| 70 | M’Baye Niang | Torino | Teamtalk. Arsenal FC Blog seems fairly certain the deal is on for £17.5m | Discussions underway |
| 71 | Wilfred Ndidi | Leicester | Mad About PL, Goonertalk, African Football, Sun | Midfielder, Man U want him too |
| 72 | Saul Niguez | At Madrid | Mirror, Arsenal Station | £130m will get him. Midfielder |
| Update | Stephen N’Zonzi | Sevilla | Football London. He’s French, plays for Seville and spends all day at various airports. Xhaka will go to make way. Arsenal are locked in talks – Sky. Hard Tackle agrees. FL says it is still on. Le10 Sport says it is on. We’re trying to get him cheaper. No we’re not interested… | Def midfield. In March FL had him “jetting to London) now they are not so sure. Maybe he got lost. TeamTalk says £35m. Everton want him. |
| 74 | Abulkadir Omur | Trabzonspor | Turkish football says Ozil recommends him | Central midfield |
| 75 | Oguzhan Ozyakup | Besiktas | Mail. Football London says Wenger obsessed the transfer | Arsenal to bring back their ex-player at the end of his contract |
| 76 | Cristan Pavon | Boca Juniors. | Mirror says WHU want him, Sports Mole says we are close. Star says it is on, agent says nothing is happening. e need” says Transfer Tavern. | We’ve already held talks. He’s 22, a forward. He’s the “player w |
| 77 | Danilo Pereira | Porto | O Jogo | Defensive midfield, currently injured |
| 78 | Lucas Perez | AFC loaned to Deportivo | Sports Keeds and FootLond report that he will return to Arsenal and be given a chance | He played 35 times on loan for Deportivo La Coruña. He’s off to Turkey. |
| Update | Dennis Praet | Sampdoria | Football London says one week we must have him, next week AFC have had talks. Release clause £22m. Calciomercato says it is on | Attacking midfielder, 24 years old |
| 80 | Pablo Moreno | Barcelona | Mundo Deportivo | He’s 15 and his contract runs out at the end of the season |
| 81 | Jan Oblak | Atletico Mad | FootballBible; Gibfootballshow, Star | Goalkeeper also wanted by Chelsea and Liverpool. 100m euros. At Mad “expect him to leave” |
| 82 | Panagiotis Retsos | Bayer Leverkusen | Goal, 4th official | Greek South African defender |
| 83 | Ivan Rakitic | Barcelona | Star | Attacking midfield |
| 84 | Rodrigo | Valencia | Fotomac, Football Fancast | Selling Lacazette to buy him. He’s a 27 year old winger |
| 85 | Sergio Rico | Sevilla | Football London | Goalkeeper; won the Europa twice |
| 86 | Sokratis Papastathopoulos | Borussia Dortmund | Birmingham Live, Gazzetta dello Sport, Football London, Evening Standard, Read Arsenal. Hatchet job from Pain in the Ars. L’Équipe says it is done. Lots of sites now saying it is all done. Metro says Kos is leaving to make way. Goal and Arsenal Fever report no deal is done | Man U, Juventus, Chelsea interested in 29 year old defender. Arsenal now favourites. He’s going to be 1st signing. Final details being arranged. “This week”. It’s agreed! |
| 87 | Adrien Rabiot | PSG | Football Lond spotted him at London Colney | Defensive midfield; 1 year left on contract |
| 88 | Marcus Rashford | Man U | Starsport: £60m offer to be made | 20 year old forward |
| 89 | Ante Rebic | Eintracht Frankfurt | SportBild | He is a Croation Striker. Bayern also interested |
| 90 | Richarlison | Watford | EPL Scouts, 4th Official | Forward, Chels & Tots also; Arsenal miss out & Arsenal to hijack deal, both on same site!!! |
| 91 | Daniele Rugani | Juventus | Whoscored | Defender. Agent confirms |
| 92 | Morgan Sanson | Bordeaux | Express says we are fighting Tottenham for this player | 23 years old, midfielder |
| 93 | Son Heung-min | Tottenham | Sport 365, Foot London | Man U also chasing |
| 94 | Jean-Michael Seri | Nice | Mentioned on Arsenal.com. From the Mirror and Metro, Star, Mail, Standard, Hard Tackle. “Spotted in London” Gunnersphere. (He went to Fulham). | Midfielder but Arsenal have been too slow and Chelsea have got him, just as they lost out last window. |
| 95 | Bassem Srarfi | Nice | Foot Lond – but they changed their mind. | Winger or midfielder. He’s 20. Going to Leicester? |
| 96 | Andre Silva | Milan | Mad about EPL | Attacking midfield “sensation” but failed to show his attributes this year. Wolverhampton also interested. |
| 97 | Chris Smalling | Man U | Daily Canon, Sport 360, Daily Star, Guardian | £25m will get him |
| 98 | Yan Sommer | Barcelona | Cornwall Live (yes really). We are in advanced talks. Football Bible says deal is almost done. | My Arsenal blog also says talks are advanced |
| 99 | Caglar Söyüncü | Freiburg | Football Whispers, Arsenal Station, Sky Sports, Telegraph, Talksport, The Sun, ESPN, 100 Great Goal Price about £35m. Football Talk & Daily Express confirms he wants to join AFC. We can have him. | Central midfield. Liverpool, Man C, Dortmund “in race”. He wants a guarantee of 1st team footie. He’s going to be the first signing |
| 100 | Anderson Talisca | Benfica on loan to Besiktas | O Jogo | Brazilian attacking midfield |
| 101 | Kieran Tierney | Celtic | Football London | Left Back |
| 102 | Corentin Tolisso | Bayern | Foot Lond | Bayern bought him last year for €40 million. Now Arsenal are buying him for €60 million. No! |
| 103 | Lucas Torreira | Sampdoria | TuttoMercatoWeb, Sport Review, the Metro, Calciomercato Sampdoria, the Express, Daily Star – deal about to happen. In fact everyone says it. | A defensive midfielder and he’s going to be first. Next week (that was 2 weeks ago). No it is off! Calcio Insider |
| 104 | Cengiz Ünder | Roma | Tuttomercato; he’s a goalscoring winger | £26m offered £40m demanded |
| 105 | Josha Vagnoman | Hamburg | ESPN (2nd youngster player in the German league ever) | Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton all want him |
| 106 | Lucas Vazquez | Real Madrid | Metro says he is after more games, only got 16 last year. Sports Lens says AFC willing to meet salary demand | Right winger, earns £7m a year. 26 years old. Soccer Souls says we must not sign him! |
| NEW | Domagoj Vida | London Pavillion | Sports Witness | Beşiktaş – he is a centre back and right back. |
| NEW | Sebastian Walukiewicz | Pogoń Szczecin | Sport Review says we are anxious to get him | 19 year old keeper |
| 109 | Timo Werner | Leipzig | Arsenal mania, Sun | 21 year old who has scored a multitude of goals |
| 110 | Ben Wilmot | Stevenage | Sportsmole, Gunnersphere. The 72 | 18 year old played a dozen or so games. Totts also interested. Price is £2m |
| 111 | Jack Wilshere | Arsenal | Evening Standard saying he will not sign new contract until his playing position is defined by manager. Confirmed as going. | Obviously he’s was ours but some sites treated him as a poss signing, until he left |
| 112 | Wilfried Zaha | Crystal Palace | Liga Financial | Arsenal making a bid of £25m |
| 113 | Cristian Zapata | Milan | Giants Football News | Defender |
| 114 | Piotr Zielinski | Napoli | The Mirror | |
| 115 | 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 |
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Lopez and greenwood are both Arsenal Players now
I would have said yes to Ousmane Dembele but on loan from Barca to Arsenal before the summer window slammed shut. But reports say he’s injury prone kind of a player and that makes his coming to Arsenal scary. Besides, having played for France at the World Cup, if he comes to Arsenal he’ll join the likes of Monreal, Xhaka and Welbeck on the training catch up list to get to fitness level as other Gunners will be far ahead of them in this regard having reported early for pre-season training and have had 5 friendly games already under their belts. But Ozil and Iwobi still have some catch up to do in training as they will be having only a couple of training sessions and 2 friendly games under their belts before the new PL season begins. Torreira too will have a lot of catch up in training and full fitness to do as well.