After a stunning enquiry, Mikel Arteta has received a significant boost in his bid to seal a £50 million January deal to Arsenal.
Arsenal transfer rumours: Mikel Arteta and Edu could be prepping for the January window already, with one target already contacted.
Arsenal had a very successful summer transfer window, spending over £200 million to bring in four big players. Kai Havertz kicked off the summer spending spree, soon followed by Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice, with David Raya signing on loan from Brentford.
To say the least, the four new newcomers have had quite different starts to their careers in north London, with Rice doing his best to live up to his £105 million price tag thus far. An imperious display in the away win over Crystal Palace demonstrated his defensive significance to Arteta, while his efforts against Manchester United demonstrated he can also be a threat in the attacking third.
With the game moving towards extra time, Rice came up with a key goal to put the Gunners on the route to win, leaving Arteta speechless. “I think a tremendous performance,” he remarked after the game when asked about Rice.
“When you look at how a holding midfielder needs to dominate his area, how he needs to break up play, how he glided the team together when they were a little stretched.” Then he created a magical moment to win us the game, which made us very delighted.”
However, the remaining new trio have not yet reached the same heights, with Timber suffering a long-term knee injury on his league debut and David Raya still to displace Aaron Ramsdale as Arteta’s No. 1. Havertz, meanwhile, has come under fire for his performances in midfield, although Arteta has remained committed to his £65 million signing.
With the summer transfer window having closed, it has been claimed that another Premier League star may have moved to Emirates Stadium, with Arsenal showing interest since last summer. According to the Telegraph, Arsenal inquired about Wolves winger Pedro Neto despite declining to sign him a year ago when his asking price was over £50 million.
Injuries and uneven form could lead to a drop in asking price, and despite not pursuing a move this summer, Arsenal have been given a potential boost if they return in January. According to the same article on Wolves’ turbulent summer, Gary O’Neill would try to complete a team exodus in the winter window in order to acquire a new striker.
This will almost certainly imply the sale of peripheral players. Allowing Neto to leave, on the other hand, would offer Wolves a sizable price to spend on a new attacking signing and provide Arsenal with the Bukayo Saka back-up option that many fans have been clamoring for.
The 23-year-old may have only scored one league goal in the previous two seasons, but he has already started the new season with three assists. With his value diminishing from 2022 and Wolves’ apparent need to sell, Arteta and Edu might get a very lucrative deal if the enquiry is followed up on in January.
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