The 97 players heading Arsenal’s way this summer: 16 new and updated

By Sir Hardly Anyone

• Is Fifa about to follow Infantino and move to the Persian Gulf?

This is a list of players who the media are touting this summer as coming to Arsenal: 97 in all.  We’ve got five completely new stories today, along with a further 11 which have updated information about bids etc.

Normally the number of stories that turn out to be true is about 2% of the total so that would give us two players.   But we have already signed Jesus, Vieira, Turner and Marquinhoos, so it looks like the percentage accuracy rate could rise to a record-breaking 4% by the time the window “slams shut” as they like to say.

No	Player	Source	Club	Notes
1	Max Aarons	Daily Cannon, Carrowroad.net, HITC	Norwich City	Right back.  Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund interested £20m
2	Tammy Abraham	TBR, Mirror, Just Arsenal  (Left Chelsea under one year ago).  Telegraph – AFC interested	Roma; Mourinho says he can go	Forward. Will cost over £35m.  Wil cost €80million (Just Arsenal)
Update	Manuel Akanji	Mirror says he wants to come to AFC. Price dropped deal is on.  HITC – Inter want him	Borussia Dortmund	Centre back.  Contract ends next summer
4	Kerem Akturkoglu	TeamTalk	Galatasaray.	Forward
5	Houssem Aouar	Football 365	Lyon	Attacking midfield
6	Ronald Araujo	Express	Barcelona	Defender
7	Marco Arsensio	Mirror	Real Madrid	Attackinig midfield
8	Gareth Bale	Express	Real Madrid	Released.  AFC, Chelsea or Tottenham are the options
9	Yves Bissouma	HITC, 90 Min.  Fo.Lo says no.	Brighton	Midfield. Requested a transfer. Liverpool want him
10	Sven Botman	Express	Lille, defender	AFC trying to hijack Newc deal
11	Jarrod Bowen	Mirror – club in contact with him.	West Ham	Winger
12	Julian Brandt	Mirror	Borussia Dortmund ready to sell	Midfield
13	Gleison Bremer	Football365	Torino	Tottenham also want the centre back
14	Armando Broja	Mirror, Caught Offside	Chelsea (loan at Southampton)	Forward
15	Dominic Calvert-Lewin	Express, Mirror, Mail, F365, Caught Offside, TeamTalk.  Player says he wants AFC (Football Insider) (NUFCBlog). Ready to move (Just Arsenal)	Everton	Forward; Everton now ready to sell.  WHU want him.  AFC cooling (Football Insider) TT says AFC not interested
16	Reyes Cleary	Foot365, Canon.	WBA	17 year old forward
17	Phillipe Coutinho	Mirror, Give Me Sport, Sport Witness, TBR	Aston Villa	£33.57m.  £337m release clause (TBR)
18	Danilo	Teamtalk, Mirror	Juventus	Defensive midfield
19	Jonathan David	Express, Mirror, Foot365, PBR, FoLo. Telegraph – still interested	Lille	Forward; agent confirms he’s leaving.  It’s on; Edu met agent
20	Moussa Dembele	Telegraph: in final year of contract	Lyon	Forward
21	Memphis Depay	TBR,  Mirror: Barca set price, AFC in pole position	Barcelona	Forward
22	Sergino Dest	Football London	Barcelona	Full back
23	Moussa Diaby	Mirror – £84m.  FoLo says he wants Champs Lge football.	Bayer Leverkusen	Winger
Update	Paulo Dybala	HITC: Totts want him also. Football London. Story now repeated.  Mirror now saying he doesn’t want to come.  Mirror now saying he is coming.  “Meeting in London”. AFC put in new enquiry (FoLo). Going to Inter (HITC)	Juventus	Forward available on a free.  Talks ongoing (FoLo). Man U, Inter and Newcastle also want him.
25	Khayon Edwards	Express: AFC youth player now ready to sign full contract	Arsenal	Forward.  Jeorge Bird says he has signed.
26	Joao Felix	Football London, Daily Canon, HITC	Atletico Madrid	Replacement for Lacazette
NEW	Seko Fofana	Lens trying to keep him.  Newcastle & PSG also interested.	PC Lens
28	Marcello Flores	Express, TBR	Arsenal under 23s	Replacement for Saka
29	Ben Foster	Football London	ex-Watford	Now without a club, says he is hoping to go to Arsenal
Update	Cody Gakpo	Sport Witness, Star, Bavarian Football, HITC, Mirror (who say PSV “upping his wages” in a cunning way of keeping him).  Liverpool bidding (Just Arsenal). Now a main option (FoLo)	PSV (the Dutch Thierry Henry)	Winger.  AFC favourites to get him. Tottenham interested
31	Florian Grillitsch	Telegraph	Hoffenheim	Midfield.  Free agent this summer
32	Serge Gnabry	Mirror (and repeated in 2nd and 3rd article)	Bayern Munich	Player says he wants to leave
33	Arda Guler	Mirror, Sport Witness, Ozil says he’s world class (HITC)	Fenerbahce	Midfield. Liverpool and Bayern interested
34	Erling Haaland	HITC, Sky, Express, Mirror	Borussia Dortmund	Age 21.  £250m. Odegaard tells AFC to sign him
35	Eden Hazard	HITC, AS, Mirror, Give me Sport,	Real Madrid	£33.5m; meetings being held (Mirror)
36	Aaron Hickey	Sport Witness.  Fo.Lo Arsenal now lead the race. Express – transfer just hours away (10 May).  Still talking (Telegraph).  HITC rated in 4/10 in match. TBR – he’s stand out player.	Bologna	Left back £17m; Napoli interested.  Sport Review: Arsenal about to sign him: HITC AFC favourites
37	Adam Hlozek	Mirror – AFC want him but have been too slow.	Spart Prague	Striker
38	Alexander Isak	Express, Mirror,	Real Sociedad	Forward, £75 release clause. Only if can’t get Abrahams.
39	Gabriel Jesus	Mirror, Athletic, Sport Witness “Talks Ongoing”.  Mirror its on the cards.  Telegraph: he likes the project. Talks underway (Mirror).  Teleg again make him a feature (28 May).  Boot Room.  Chelsea put in counter bid  (Just Arsenal News).  Medical happening (Fo.Lo)	Man City; Left Back	Athletic: Discussions have been going on for months. Mirror: discussions yet to begin.  HITC: “done deal”.  Express – happening
40	Frenkie de Jong	Mirror, but later article says he’s an “outside candidate”	Barcelona	Midfield
41	Luka Jovic	Football.London	Real Madrid	Everton, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund
NEW	Charles De Ketelaere	Leeds and Lyon also bidding according to Team Talk, Football.London.	Club Brugge	Forward
43	Khvicha Kvaratskhelia	Hard Tackle	Dinamo Batumi on leave from Rubin Kazan	Napoli also interested
Update	Noa Lang	Hard Tackle; Team Talk.  FoLo other clubs are trying to sign him, Arsenal being too slow. HITC: Going to Newcastle	Club Brugge	Liverpool and Milan also want him.  Seen as replacement for Pepe but player fancies Milan.  £25m
45	Rafael Leão	SI.com, Fichajes.net	AC Milan	Forward. Newcastle and Man C interested
46	Robert Lewandowski	Express	Bayern Munich	Striker
47	Jesper Lindstrom	HITC	Eintracht Frankfurt	Attacking midfield
48	James Maddison	Sport Review	Leicester	Midfield.  Totts also interested but Maddison wants to play in team with Saka (Mirror)
49	Marquinhos	Mirror.  Metro: deal done.  Telegraph – about to complete.  Wolverhampton taking legal action (Mirror)	Sao Paulo	19 year old winger.  £2.5m
Update	Lautaro Martinez	Caught Offside, Sport Witness.  La Gazzetta dello Sport: £50m. FoLo says it is on.  Mirror – he prefers Arsenal.  Express, PeoplePerson – Man U hijacking deal. Inter reveal the price (Mirror). Going to Man U – Caught Offside. He’s keen on AFC (This is Futbol). Demanding to be let go (HITC)	Inter Milan	Forward. WHU and Atletico Madrid interested
51	Arthur Melo	Football London; TBR.  Swap deal for Thomas Partey.  Mirror: swap deal for Martinelli is on	Juventus	Midfield.  Hard Tackle: being offered in part exchange for Martinelli
NEW	Sergej Milinkovic-Savic	Caught Offside: €50m and €55m offered by Arsenal.  Newcastle also bidding. Sport Witness: AFC ready to pay the price.  HITC confirm. Footballfancast AFC bid £42m	Lazio	Midfield
53	Nahuel Molina	Il Messaggero Veneto Arseblog, Just Arsenal	Udinese	Right back
54	Alvaro Morata	Sport Witness, Guardian (a deadline day signing forecast)	Juventus	Striker – transfer looking very likely
55	Cristhian Mosquera	Express	Valencia	17 year old centre back
56	Nordi Mukiele	Football.London	RB Leipzig	Defender, Totts also interested
57	Neto	TBR, Sport, HITC	Barcelona	Part of swap for Gabriel
58	Ruben Neves	Express. WW wanted £100m.  Barcelona interested (Mirror) Still on (London World). Contact made (Mirror)	Wolverhampton	Man U interested, but warning about his injury situation.
Update	Christopher Nkunku	Guardian.  £100m, Mirror (35 goals in 50 games), Independent.. HITC he hasn’t signed a new contract	RB Leipzig	PSG and Man U also interested
60	Darwin Nunez	Mirror, Standard, Express 442, TBR, F365, Football London, Caught Offside, Sky Sports, Mirror: “AFC have let him slip through their grasp – he’s going to Man U	Benfica. £67m	Forward. Transfer in progress. At Madrid no longer interested. AFC in the lead (Express). Main target (FoLo), AFC need him (Mirror). AFC now in the lead
61	Luca Ocampos	SportsMole	Seville; winger	Swap with Pepe
62	Michael Olise	HITC	Crystal Palace	£24m
63	Mathias Olivera	Mirror	Getafe	Left back
64	Victor Osimhen	AllNigeria, Express, Football London, Mirror: worries about cost of player.	Napoli	Forward; swap deal with Saliba
Update	Lucas Paqueta	Hard Tackle, Sport Review.  Talks did not progress (Sport Witness)	Lyon	PSG, At Madrid also want him.  AFC now competing with Newcastle. Playmaker
66	Pepe (the Porto player!)	ABola, HITC	Porto	Winger
67	Yeremy Pino	HITC	Villarreal	Release clause worth €80m.  Forward
68	Paul Pogba	Football.London	Man U	Contract talks broken down.  AFC to blow other clubs out of the water
NEW	Riqui Puig	HITC: Fiorentina also want him.  Cost is £88m	Barcelona	Playmaker
Update	Raphinha	4th official.   Football London – its a priority. We’re going to get him – Athletic.  The next one in, talks advanced – FoLo.  AFC favourites – Leeds Live. £65m release clause (Guardian).  Man U set to wreck plans (FoLo).  AFC stepping up pace (Star) AFC still hopeful (Football Fancast)	Leeds	Winger.  Ray Parlour calls him a top star..  Sports Mole – AFC clear favourites. Collymore tells Liverpool to sign him
71	Marcus Rashford	90 Min, HITC, TalkSport, Daily Cannon, Express, Sport Review, TBR, Teamtalk	Man U	Forward; Keene warns AFC against buying him. Totts could hi-jack deal.  “Suprise swoop” (Sp Rev) AFC want him.
72	Richarlison	Football Insider, Caught Offside.  Forward.  Mirror: being sounded out. No he wants Tottenham – HITC.  Tot favourite (Just Arsenal News)	Everton	Man U interested.  He snubbed AFC for Chelsea (Football Talk)
73	Sergi Roberto	Football London	Barcelona	Right back. At Madrid no longer interested
Update	Cristiano Ronaldo	Express, Mirror, Fo.Lo.  Tribal Football – AFC has made an offer.	Man U	Piers Morgan says AFC should sign him
75	Fabrizio Romano	Sport Review	Man City striker	Arsenal agree £45m deal
76	Fabian Ruiz	TBR	Napoli	Midfield; swap for Gabriel
77	Allan Saint-Maximin	Football London	Newcastle	Winger. Leno going in part exchange
78	Renato Sanches	Sun, Mirror, Sports Mole, HITC	Lille	Midfield.  Juventus want him but can’t afford him
Update	Gianluca Scamacca	HITC “Arsenal will not take ‘no’ for an answer”. Express: great ariel threat.  AFC £5m short so he’s talking to PSG (TBR)	Sassuolo	No 9. Coaching staff have reservations (HITC)
80	Luis Sinisterra	Mirror: players wants to move, AFC favourites to get him	Feyenoord	Forward, scoring 12 goals in 30 games.
81	Djed Spence	Hard Tackle, Fo.Lo.  Just Arsenal say Forest are getting him	Middlesbrough on loan at Forest	Right back.  £15m but Tottenham now looking favourites
82	Raheem Stirling	HITC.  Contract ends next year. Arteta worked with him at Man C.  Caught offside: wage demands will scupper deal. Going to Chelsea – HITC	Man City	Available for £80m.  Going to Chelsea (HITC)
83	Aurelien Tchouameni	WeallfollowUnited, Sun	AS Monaco	Midfield, £60m+
84	Matt Turner	Telegraph.  Daily Canon “any day now”	New England Revolution	Goalkeeper – deal done
Update	Youri Tielemans	Terms agreed: Just Arsenal.  Star, Mirror.  “Top target” Fo.Lo, The Athletic, Just Arsenal  TBR – been playing badly recently. Sun: the deal is on. He wants to come (Mirror), but offer of £51m rejected.  But Edu persuing him (also Mirror).  AFC pulled out (Give me Sport). Still on the cards (Online Gooner)	Leicester	Man U also interested, Midfield, Contract ends next summer. Telegraph – very possible.  Guardian says could be
86	Corentin Tolisso	Bavarianfootballworks.com.  Man U also interested	Bayern Munich	Midfield.  Free transfer.
87	Raul de Tomas	Star, HITC	Espanyol	“Being watched”  Wright things he’s unbelievable.
88	Ivan Toney	Sun – about to happen	Brentford	Striker
89	Auston Trusty	Telegraph – will sign and go out on loan	Colorado Rapids
90	Lesley Ugochukwu	HITC	Rennes	2nd Patrick Vieira.  AFC convinced of signing
91	Jesus Vazquez	Express	Valencia	Left back
NEW	Gabriel Veron	The Hardtackle.  He’s 19.	Palmeiras	Winger
93	Dusan Vlahovic	F365	Juventus	Serbian Striker
94	Wilfried Zaha	TBR	Crystal Palace	He’s been in each of the last 3 summer transfer rumours
95	Cristian Zavala	Colo Colo	Player says “my dream transfer”	Midfielder, hasn’t actually played for Colo Colo yet!
96	Edon Zhegrova	442, Sunday Mirror, Sky Teamtalk, Shoot	Lille	23 year old forward available for a bargain price
97	Oleksandr Zinchenko	Telegraph, Standard.  AFC really want him	Man City

• What’s so wrong with both football, and with the reporting of football