Arsenal’s pre-season is on the horizon, and technical director Andrea Berta is now pushing forward to complete Mikel Arteta’s squad well ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
Smart signings have been made in central midfielder Christian Norgaard (pending the completion of his medical) and Kepa Arrizabalaga, who will be expected to play back-up to David Raya between the sticks.
Furthermore, Martin Zubimendi’s arrival will add genuine star quality to the middle of the park, the Real Sociedad maestro coveted by many of Europe’s top outfits in recent years due to his intelligent, deep-lying midfield performances.
However, we’re yet to see Arteta welcome some new forwards to the fold. Heading into the summer market, this would have unanimously have been agreed to be the Gunners’ chief objective.
It hasn’t happened yet, but expect a flurry of movement in the coming weeks.
Arsenal's offensive transfer plans
Arsenal’s centre-forwards shortlist is comprised of four parts: Viktor Gyokeres, Benjamin Sesko, Ollie Watkins, Alexander Isak.
The latter’s exorbitant price tag likely puts him out of reach, but the English giants desperately need a new number nine, and it’s likely one of the four will arrive at the Emirates soon.
Sesko and Gyokeres are the frontrunners, with it revealed by David Ornstein on Sunday that the Swede “only wants” Arsenal now that Sporting and the Gunners are locked in advanced talks concerning a move.
However, Arteta is set on signing more than just a new frontman as he looks to bring silverware back to Arsenal next season, five years on from the club’s last triumph.
Chelsea’s Noni Madueke has emerged as a top target for the club. Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that contacts between the clubs are set to take place for the versatile winger, with personal terms having seemingly been agreed.
However, there’s another Premier League star on the cards in north London who’s been riding the crest of a wave of late.
Arsenal pushing to sign Premier League star
As per Football Transfers, Arsenal are internally weighing up an official bid for Crystal Palace hero Eberechi Eze, who scored the winning goal as his side defeated Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May.
The Londoners are felt to have taken their curiosity up a notch after cooling their interest in Real Madrid’s Rodrygo, and Eze has a £68m release clause that the Eagles expect to be met.
Kay has revealed that the 26-year-old “wants to join Arsenal”, his close friendship with Bukayo Saka factoring in. Tottenham Hotspur are also keen on the England international.
Why Arsenal want Eberechi Eze
Crystal Palace have been a mainstay in the Premier League since achieving promotion in 2013. For over a decade, they have been regarded as an entertaining and stable club, but Eze turned them into something greater with his driven finish against City at Wembley.
Five years earlier, he joined from the Championship’s Queens Park Rangers in a deal worth £19.5m. The maverick’s rise has been an incredible thing, having now bloomed into the “superstar” that analyst Ben Mattinson had crowned him as over a year ago.
An electric attacking midfielder with a tendency to drift over to the left, Eze could prove to be Arsenal’s own version of Florian Wirtz, with the German sensation joining Liverpool in a British-record £116m deal this summer.
Wirtz’s remarkable blend of vision, intelligence and technical quality make him a one-of-a-kind playmaker, and while he’s not a carbon copy, Eze has the skill set to mirror that of the Premier League champions’ new talisman.
The data certainly suggests the Three Lions man could bring his own firebrand style to the Emirates. As per FBref, Eze ranked among the top 6% of attacking midfielders and wingers across the 2024/25 English top-flight season for shots taken, the top 11% for shot-creating actions, the top 16% for ball recoveries and the top 10% for successful take-ons per 90.
In this way, we can observe that the Palace star, ever-improving, could be a “magician” – as he has been dubbed by pundit Micah Richards – of similar proportions for Arteta’s title-chasing side.
24/25
43 (40)
14
11
23/24
31 (26)
11
6
22/23
40 (30)
10
4
21/22
19 (7)
1
1
20/21
36 (31)
3
6
In a similar vein, Wirtz, 22, has been described as a “genius” in the past by his former Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso, who had drawn notice to his Mesut Ozil-esque qualities.
But it’s not just the Liverpool star’s ability on the ball, his faculty for a fleet-footed surge or a thunderous strike, but his physicality too.
Luckily, Eze would bring similar athletic abilities to Arteta’s door, having averaged 4.8 successful duels, 1.1 tackles and four ball recoveries per Premier League match last term, as per Sofascore.
Given the existing options in Arsenal’s first team, it feels like Eze could be a game-changer, someone arriving with fresh ideas and a different style of quality to open up a dimension that was lacking last term.
It’s easy to blame the club’s issues across the 2024/25 campaign on the lack of a focal frontman, but the £100k-per-week Palace star could have made a world of difference too.
There’s an early sense that the Premier League title, sure to be tighter next year, will be determined, or at least influenced, by moments of magic, players of unique ability who can drive their side toward an extra three points here or a rousing draw at the most ominous enemy ground there.
In any case, Arsenal fans have plenty to look forward to next season. If Berta can oversee the signing of Eze along with a first-rate central striker and maybe another left winger too, there’s every chance Arteta could lead the Gunners to glory.
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