The race has started. The final sprint is on. There are just four weeks (one month) until the transfer window shuts. Arsenal have some holes to fill.
There is an eerie gap up front heading into the season and questions over the balance of the side. Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino (once signed) will go some way to answering those but Mikel Arteta may well prefer if they didn’t carry on with uncertainty into the season’s beginning.
That is the task at hand for sporting director Edu Gaspar and his recruitment team. It is not an easy one but it is the type of challenge that the best teams embrace, and the best of the best is what Arsenal are striving to become.
Arsenal are keeping a close eye on developments between Julian Alvarez and Manchester City after tensions rose following a global back-and-forth with Pep Guardiola. The Mirror reports that the Gunners are ready to head into the new season without a new statement signing but could be brought to action for Alvarez.
The Argentine was initially linked with a move to Chelsea after suggestions that he had grown frustrated with a lack of opportunities in big games and instead of playing down what had been written, Alvarez played up to it. “There is a lot of talk,” he said while away with his country. “I am focused here [at the Olympics] because it is a short tournament. At Manchester City I feel very good, I played a lot of minutes. But we will see after the Games.
