Four Gunners left the Emirates for the last time on Sunday with Aaron Ramsey, Danny Welbeck, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Petr Cech no more after their contracts expired. So who might Arsenal bring in to replace them?
Zaha off limits
Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha is at the top of their wishlist but they can forget about signing him, reports The Sun, despite the fact that the Eagles’ ace is allegedly desperate to leave Selhurst Park for north London. The problem is that Palace chairman Steve Parish “fears selling Zaha could wreck his plans of finding new partners”, who are willing to invest in the club. Palace are under no pressure to offload the Ivory Coast forward having made a £50m profit on selling Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Manchester United.
Parish is worried that were he to sell Zaha it would send the wrong message to potential investors and, says the Sun, make them “look more like relegation candidates than an upwardly-mobile business to those who are considering whether to commit £350m to the transformation of the club”.
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German tussle
Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal are in what The Sun describes as a “three-way battle” for Dortmund frontman Jacob Bruun Larsen. The 20-year-old Dane enjoyed an impressive season for the German outfit and that’s brought him to the attention of the three Premier League clubs. Capped by his country in March, Bruun Larsen formed a potent partnership with England’s Jadon Sancho in the Dortmund side and the Sun claims that they are demanding big money for the youngster.
Saliba or Tierney
Arsenal will sit down with Saint-Etienne “within the next couple of days” to discuss the possibility of signing William Saliba. The Daily Star says that the Gunners are desperate to land the centre-half, who is considered one of the brightest prospects in France despite being just 18.
Apparently Arsenal remain in negotiations with Saint-Etienne over a £20m move, and while the Ligue 1 club are reluctant to let Saliba go it’s believed they could sell him to the Emirates if he is loaned back to them for the coming season.
But the Star says that Unai Emery wants to have him in his squad next season and much will depend on whether Arsenal prise Kieran Tierney from Celtic. According to the Daily Mirror, the Gunners will up their bid for the Scottish defender after having their initial offer of £15m rejected, and they are now “prepared to meet the £25m fee being demanded by Celtic”.
Ozil snubbed
Finally, Arsenal are having no luck in getting rid of Mesut Ozil, reports the Daily Star. Taking their cue from Italian publication CalcioMercato, the Star says that the Gunners have offered the 30-year-old German to Juventus, Napoli and Inter Milan in recent weeks but they all “snubbed” the offer.
As a consequence Arsenal will now turn their attention towards Turkey “in the hope that Galatasaray, Fenerbahce or Istanbul Basaksehir will be keen to take the playmaker off their hands”. But with his £16.1m salary that will be easier said than done.
