By Sir Hardly Anyone.
This week the blog Suburban Gooner ran the headline Lack of incoming and outgoing at Arsenal is now becoming an issue. Maybe, although we still have over a month of the window left to find someone to sign.
However even Suburban Gooner couldn’t be that fed up with the rumours – for we have got 75 players who have been tipped to be coming our way – and we are excluding those players who are listed simply because a blogger says Arsenal ought to try for a particular player.
So here is the index of all the players who are tipped by the media to be of interest to Arsenal this summer.
It would be most interesting if a blogger from another of the leading clubs in the Premier League could undertake the same sort of exercise so that we could see if Arsenal do genuinely get more of these often nonsensical rumours than other clubs.
But thus far I have not seen a blog elsewhere that does keep a record of the rumours. For the most part they are primarily interesting in pushing the rumours themselves.
Anyway here is the latest chart of players who are said to be coming our way by the all-knowing know-alls of the media and their hangers’ on.
Only a handful of new names this time, but quite a few updates which suggest that the rumour is still doing the rounds…
| No | Player | Current club | Source | Notes |
| Update | Toby Alderweireld | Tottenham H | TBR Football, Sun | He’s 30 years old |
| 2 | Joachim Anderson | Sampdoria | Calciomeracto and Tuttosport. FootLon says his decision is imminent. Could be Tottenham says Team Talk and FL. He’s saying it is time to leave. | £37m for him and Praet. Anderson is a centre back. |
| 3 | Angelino | PSV | But Man City want him back- he was with their youth team | He’s a left back |
| 4 | Antony | Sao Paulo | Media Ref (they say it would be a waste of money) | Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Lyon and Monaco are also interested |
| 5 | Keita Balde | Monaco | 101 Great Goals says £27m will do it. Was loaned to Inter last season. He’s a 24 year old winger. Sky has been talking this one up. | Sun and Metro also running the tale. |
| 6 | Gareth Bale | Real Madrid | She wore a yellow | 87% of RM fans want him out |
| 7 | Eric Bailly | Man U | Transfer Market | £27m, for 25 year old centre back |
| 8 | Ismael Bennacer | Empoli | HITC, Pain in the Arsenal | Ex Arsenal youth player |
| 9 | Jerome Boateng | Bayern | Foot Lond, Talk Sport | “He’s played his last game for us” |
| 10 | Jarrod Bowen | Hull City | Cheap Alternative to Zaha. | He’s 22. |
| Update | Yacine Brahimi | Porto | Talk Sport. He’s a 29-year-old Algeria attacking midfielder. Now a free agent. | Mail says Roma are making a bid |
| Update | Marcelo Brozociv | Inter Milan | Transfer Tavern citing CalcioMercato, Mykhel suggest that talks have begun following the player’s formal transfer request | £40.5m; a “tough midfielder” |
| 13 | Gary Cahill | Chelsea | Mirror and 90 mins running the story simultaneously. Hardly played last season but is a centre back. | Out of contract so free |
| 14 | Yannick Carrasco | Dalian Yifang (China) | Sport, Sport Witness and elsewhere in Spanish press. Sun says it is 1/10 he will sign. TeamTalk however say we have missed out on him. Talks are ongoing (Tutto Mercato Web) | Winger aged 25 |
| Update | Dani Ceballos | Real Madrid | Arsenal are ready to pay £44.6m but Tottenham are desperate (Arsenal Station). He is a Spanish central midfielder who has played ten times for Spain. Liverpool interested (Team Talk). Tottenham will get him (Read Liverpool) | Central midfielder who has played ten times for Spain. |
| 16 | Samuel Chukwueze | Villareal | Foot Lond | Nigerian forward |
| 17 | Alexis Claude-Maurice | Lorient | Arsenal have made a £6m bid. FootLond, Sun. FL now adds that he wants to go to Bor Munch. HITC says Arsenal his preferred target. Deal is off (Nebula) | France under 20 forward and friend of Guendouzi |
| 18 | Eray Comert | Basle | Will cost £7m says the Metro and the Daily Mail | 21 year old defender |
| 19 | Djene Dakonam | Getafe | Daily Express | Central defender / RB. Will cost £13.5m |
| 20 | Gianluigi Donnarumma | AC Milan | Daily Cannon who say the goalkeeper will cost 70m euros | |
| 21 | En-Nesyri | Leganes | Fox Sports Asia, HITC. Borussia Dortmund and Schalke also want him | He will be the first signing and will cost £10m |
| Update | Nabil Fekir | Lyon | TBR Football say it is £30m. Apparently he failed a medical with Liverpool when the price was £50m. Attacking midfield or forward. Gunnersphere now saying it is on for sure. | Telegraph also running this. AFC offered £30m. |
| 23 | Bruno Fernandes | Sporting | O Jogo, Sport Witness | Chelsea, Man C, Juventus want him, £100m release clause |
| 24 | James Forest | Celtic | Media Referee | We should sell Iwobi and get him. |
| Update | Ryan Fraser | Bournemouth | Express, Mirror. Sky says Bournemouth standing firm against sale. Jack Wilshere says he has the perfect attitude. Daily Express | One year left on contract |
| 26 | Jean Philippee Gbamain | Mainz | Read Arsenal; Soccer Souls | On his way |
| 27 | Ander Herrera | Man U | Express | PSG also interested |
| 28 | Mario Hermoso | Espanyol | Independent says he is certain to leave and AFC interested. | Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and PSG also interested |
| 29 | James Hillson | Reading | He’s a young keeper who was on loan from Reading but did not play. However he’s now been released by Reading and is back with Arsenal | Arseblog. |
| 30 | Presnel Kimpembe | PSG | Foot Lond, Soccer Link | He’s a centre half |
| 31 | Isco | Real Mad | Transfer Market. | Attacking midfield. Price is £54m |
| 32 | Armando Izzo | Torino | TuttoMercatoWeb reports that the player’s agent, Paolo Palermo, held talks with Arsenal last week. SB Nation say he cost €9.7 million a year ago and the club want more than this. | Defender, 27 years old played 39 times last season |
| 33 | Presnel Kimpembe |
PSG | Arsenal ready to do the deal He’s a central defender who is 23. | Daily Express who blame Le10 Sport |
| 34 |
Jules Koundé |
Bordeaux | He’s a centre back said to be similar to Thomas Vermaelen. Sevilla also want him. He’s 20 and Wiki claim he played 55 times for the first team last season! | Sport 360 |
| 35 | Danny Loader | Reading | FootballLeagueWorld. Wales online say Cardiff want him after 10 goals in 11 games for u23. | Chelsea want the 18 year old striker. |
| 36 | Marcos Llorente | Real Mad | Transfer Market, HITC | 24 year old defensive midfield. £13.5m |
| Update | Malcolm | Barcelona | Sport Witness, FootLond. 4th Official talking up a loan deal | Totts, Milan, Inter and Lille also after him |
| 38 | Ruslan Malinovskyi | Genk | Daily Canon | Ukraine Midfielder |
| 39 | Kostas Manolas | Roma | FootLond | He’s a centre back |
| NEW | Marcello | Real Madrid | Give me sport say we are up against PSG, Milan etc etc. He’s a 31 year old left back. | He’s put in a transfer request |
| 41 | Thomas Meunier | PSG right back | TBR Football, Arsenal Station, Mail, Sports Review | Arsenal fans don’t want him (TBR) |
| SIGNED | Gabrielle Martinelli | Ituano | Metro,Express and Star came in with this story late on, but it was the Mail who picked it up first back in March | 17 year old winger |
| 43 | Harry Maguire | Leicester | HITC | 26 year old centre back |
| 44 | Paul Mitchell | Leipzig | Sports Mole; 90 min, Football 365, Sky; Talkspofrt | Man U and Chelsea interested |
| NEW | Alberto Moreno | Liverpool | Defender who only started two games last season in the league, and is largely disliked by Liverpool fans | Beyond the posts suggest Arsenal are interested |
| 46 | Neymar | PSG | Foot Lond go bonkers with “Excited Arsenal fans react as Neymar is linked with PSG exit” | |
| 47 | N’Zonzi | Roma | HITC | £19m; he’s considered a flop at Roma where he plays midfield |
| 48 | David Neres | Everton | Telegraph, Foot Lond | £34.5m; talks held. Liverpool want him |
| 49 | Christopher Nkunku | PSG | Foot Lond, Le Parisien, Star | Midfield; he’s turned down a contract renewal. We tried in Jan |
| 50 | Thomas Partey | Atletico Madrid | Talk Sport | Midfield with a £43.5m release clause |
| 51 | Nicolas Pepe | Lille | 101 Great Goals, Telefoot, FootLond | Star striker. Man U also interested. “He’s on the way” (FL) |
| 52 | Ayoze Perez | Newcastle | Mad about EPL | Inter also want him; forward or attacking midfield |
| 53 | Ivan Perisic | Inter Milan | Spursweb, Gazzetta dello sport. He’s a winger or a midfielder or even a number 10, and he has played 141 times for Inter Milan since 2015 and 82 times for Croatia. | Tots and WHU interested. Man U lost interest |
| 54 | Dennis Praet | Sampdoria | Corriere dello Sport , Sport Witness, Calciomeracto and Tuttosport | Midfielder or winger; package deal with Anderson |
| 55 | Benito Raman | Fortna Dusseldorf | Express | WHU, Burnley, Everton interested |
| 56 | James Rodriguez | Real Mad | Sun, Corriere dello Sport. Curiously the Sun, start by saying that Arsenal have missed out on the transfer, seemingly without having told us it was on in the first place. | |
| 57 | Ricardo Rodriguez | AC Milan | Full back | Calciomercato and Foot Lond, each citing the other! |
| Update | Ismaila Sarr | Stade Rennais | Metro. Inside Football says he is going to Watford instead. Read Arsenal say it could be Arsenal. | He will cost over £40m. A 21 year old winger |
| Update | William Saliba | Saint Etienne | Le 10 sport says he’s off to Man U. Shoot, Sport Witness and Metro say Arsenal. Mirror and Foot Lond says it is a done deal. Read Arsenal say terms agreed. €25 million. Arsenal unwilling to pay – Daily Cannon. Deal getting close but player could be loaned back All Arsenal Rumours. Deal getting close (Mail) | St Etienne Centre back. L’Equipe says he has signed a 5 year deal. Caught offside take the price up to £26m |
| NEW | Marcus Schubert | Dynamo Dresden | Star says Arsenal were expecting the keeper to come after his contract ran out at DD, but now he’s off to Schalke. But the AFC website has Martinez listed as our second 1st team keeper | A clever ploy – the Star says the deal is off before it was ever thought to be on. |
| 61 | Thomas Strakosha | Lazio | Daily Cannon says Tottenham also interested citing Corriere della Sera as their source | Goalkeeper |
| 62 | Dominik Szoboszlai | Red Bull Salzburg | Football Insider. He played 17 games last season. Foot Lon have done a fulsome article on how he is the new Ramsey. Sports Mole say the cost is £9m | 18 year old centre midfielder |
| 63 | Matt Targett | Southampton | Sun, Teamtalk | Liverpool also want this left back. |
| 64 | Nicolas Tagliafico | Ajax | Mirror – “he’s a target for Arsenal” | £17.3million release clause and he gets half! |
| Update | Kieran Tierney | Celtic | Foot Lon tell is he is a left footed full back. 67HH (a Celtic site) says it would be a bad move for him. TeamTalk says bid is about to be made. ReadArsenal say he is the man for us. Guardian says delay is because Kroenke is refusing to agree to Celtic’s fee. Talk Sport then said Arsenal are treating Celtic with contempt. FooLo say a second bid has been made. CaughtOff say the same. | 442 quote Emery as saying he’s worth every penny of the fee. About to happen says All Arsenal |
| 66 | Leandro Trossard | Genk | €20m according to Inside Futbol | He’s a winger |
| 67 | Dorukhan Tokoz | Beşiktaş | He’s 23 | |
| Update | Samuel Umtiti | Barcelona | Foot Lond running just about the most unlikely story of them all. But Calciomercato is still talking up the story. Football 365 have him moving next week. Football Faithful say it is a battle between Arsenal and Man U. | He’s 25 and has played 63 times for Barcelona |
| 69 | Upamecano | Leipzig | Daily Express – who say we will sign him and Anderson! | Central defender |
| Update | Lucas Vázquez. | Real Madrid | Mondo Deportivo and Sport Witness. Arsenal have made an opening £27m plus bonuses bid. He’s a 27 year old winger; Football Talk | Football Talk now have the price up to £31m. 442 say €35 million |
| 71 | Jordon Veretout | Fiorentina | Metro. Player says he is moving “to a big club” | 25m euros for Ramsey II |
| 72 | Wesley | Club Brugges | Sun, Calciomercato, Daily Cannon, LaLazio | Forward, 22 years old |
| Update | Wilfried Zaha | Crystal Palace | Sun, FootLond. Story is he wants to go to Arsenal and Kevin Campbell says he’s the man for the job. But Metro says a change in shareholders is holding up the deal. Palace chair says AFC just out to cause problems. | Palace want £80m; plays right wing |
| 74 | Hakim Ziyech | Ajax | Foot Lond ran the story as a serious possibility for about a month but but on 19 June said story was an “obvious fake” which obviously had them taken in. | Attacking midfielder |
| 75 | Dan-Axel Zagadou | Borussia Dortmund | France Football | Defender |
There are more stories still coming in, and we’ll update these soon.
UPDATE AND ERROR
1. Angelino has been resigned by Man City
2. Ander Herrera has signed for PSG
3. Presnel Kimpembe was mentioned twice at 30 & 33
Caution: Take all transfer stories with a pinch of salt and try to make sense out of it. If it doesn’t make sense, its probably made up eg Neymar (Can’t afford his salary) and Nzonzi (Has been linked for over 4 seasons)
Surprised no mention of the everlasting favourites (Karim Benzema and William Carvalho)
Koscielny refused to travel for US tour with the team. The club issued a statement.
What the…?
I don’t know why they don’t just change Ozil’s name to “350k a week”. Has there ever been a single other player in the history of the Premier League whose name is literally always followed by their weekly wage?
Is this the first sign of a rift between UE and the players?
Probably not, but that is mostly a reflection of the way in which the media treat Arsenal players, as opposed to how they treat players of other teams.
FrankA
The point of all these updates, is that your advice doesn’t work. Nearly all of these stories are made up, and just because some story appears to make sense doesn’t mean it isn’t made up.
Tony
The story re Kos was realised by Arsenal and is published on Arsenal.com.
Not quite sure how this is a reflection of the media as you put it.
I think Tony was not commenting on my point but on Jezzy’s.
The fact that the club was so quick to issue the statement is an indication that the “nicely does it” way is over and we are now in with the boot at the first opportunity.
I think that those who want their Arsenal back will have a long wait.
I also think it also means that UE is now cracking the whip and is fully supported by the club.
What is surprising is that with the club having so many administrators and directors of this and that and the other that they were able to move so quickly to denigrate a long-serving player of the club.
There is clearly much more going on behind the scenes.
Did they do that as a lesson and warning to anyone else who might be interested in not toeing the line, or simply out of spite?
The Koscielny business
just goes to emphasise the search for the mighty dollar (or its equivalent)has now taken over in the close season of football.
As soon as June or so is over, the inevitable overseas tour appears on the horizon, with its “heavy” air travel and stifling heat.
No wonder those players looking closely towards retirement, wish to be left out.
Once upon a time, a few weeks’ bonding in (say) Bavaria sufficed.
The god mammon continues to thrive.
Nicky, I agree,
Since we started with these long foreign tours we have always started the season badly, I suspect because we have not been properly prepared.
These tours are not for the fans here, but for the money only.