The midfield sector is a priority for Arteta’s reinforcements
Arsenal, under the command of Mikel Arteta, had a great season in English football and led the Premier League for months, but ended up running out of steam in the final stretch of the contest and saw Manchester City’s lead slip away. Now, with little chance of winning the title, the board is already planning next season to improve a squad that is still inexperienced and has begun to move on the market, looking for new signings and evaluating exits.
According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, one of the likely departures is midfielder Granit Xhaka. The Swiss is interested in Bayer Leverkusen and sees an ambitious project in Xabi Alonso’s team. The trend is that the agreement, already agreed verbally, will be signed with the signing of the contract and the resolution of the last values in June. With a contract with the Gunners until 2024, Xhaka should cost German coffers around 15 million euros.
Again according to the journalist, the Englishman Declan Rice, 24, is one of the targets of the London board. Currently at West Ham, Rice has similar characteristics to Xhaka, being a scoring midfielder with good ball output. What differentiates them is age, given that the Hammers player is six years younger than the Swiss. There is still no fixed signing price, given that clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United are in the running and the player wants to change clubs, but the trend is that Rice will not be sold for less than 100 million euros. state/1658782411562401792?s=20
Another midfielder who could arrive is the German Ilkay Gundogan, from Manchester City. Gundogan does not have a definite future in Guardiola’s Citizens and could go to London, according to information from the newspaper “Sport Bild”. Barcelona are also in the fight to sign the 32-year-old midfielder, but Arteta believes the athlete’s experience can help his side grow. Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus have already charted the same path, from City to Arsenal; João Cancelo has also been linked to the Gunners as a possible defensive back up.
Much is attributed to the team’s decline in performance in the deciding part of 2022-23 at the young age of the squad. Of the 16 players who took the field in the defeat against Brighton, which practically annihilated the chances of the Scudetto in the Premier League, only five were over 25: Jorginho, Xhaka, Gabriel Jesus, Thomas Partey and Trossard. Therefore, the intention of the board is to bring mentally adding players to a team that is not used to decisive moments.
To be Premier League champions, the Gunners have to hope Manchester City can get just one point out of nine in dispute, as well as win their remaining two games, with Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton. If Guardiola’s side win one of his matches, they will win their ninth English title in their history, the third in a row and the fifth in six seasons.
Source: Terra
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