Arsenal have some squad trimming to do after a summer of lavish spending, with sporting director Andrea Berta spending around £270 million on new recruits, not including their latest deal for Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen.
|
Arsenal’s confirmed summer signings |
Price tag |
|---|---|
|
Kepa Arrizabalaga |
£5m |
|
Martin Zubimendi |
£60m |
|
Christian Norgaard |
£15m |
|
Noni Madueke |
£52m |
|
Cristhian Mosquera |
£13m |
|
Viktor Gyokeres |
£55m |
|
Eberechi Eze |
£67.5m |
|
Piero Hincapie |
Loan |
To combat the loss of Jakub Kiwior, who’s now joined FC Porto on loan with an obligation to buy in 2026, the Gunners struck a similar arrangement with Leverkusen for Hincapie as a direct replacement for the Pole.
The 23-year-old jumps into Kiwior’s shoes as a back-up to the likes of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, or even someone who can provide stiff competition for the imperious centre-back duo after many impressive years in the Bundesliga.
Arsenal have agreed a loan deal which will become permanent for around £45 million in 2026, with Leverkusen also boasting a significant 10 per cent sell-on clause to gain a further profit off any future sale of the defender.
Barring any late surprises, it would appear that Arsenal are now done with incomings for the window, unless they mount a dramatic late swoop for long-time target Rodrygo after recent links.
In the meantime, Arsenal do have players to get out of the door.
Mikel Arteta has no use for the likes of Reiss Nelson, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Fabio Vieira, who’ve all been repeatedly tipped to leave in the final days of the window, with left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko also up for grabs.
The £150,000-per-week defender has attracted interest from Italy and Turkey this window already, but now a move to Ligue 1 could be on the cards instead.
Marseille in talks with Arsenal to sign Oleksandr Zinchenko
According to David Ornstein, Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille are in talks with Arsenal to sign Zinchenko before the Monday 7pm cut off, and are exploring a permanent deal for the Ukraine international, who barely got a look-in last season.
The former Man City defender has quite simply fallen down the pecking order after Riccardo Calafiori’s arrival last summer and the emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly, but when called upon, Zinchenko always put a shift in.
“Every time I see him play, you see his passion and you saw him scream after the game [against United] and it’s absolutely amazing,” said Armand Traore on talkSPORT in 2023.
“I’m thinking [back to] the game against Man United, a few times when Arsenal were maybe not finding a way, he goes and makes things happen. He moves out of his position and gets into little pockets to try and make things happen and this is quite incredible. You can tell that he’s played under Pep Guardiola because he plays in a similar way.
“For Arsenal, he’s been great. The second choice left-back is Kieran Tierney [and] he’s a great left-back, but at the moment he can’t get much of a game because of how great Zinchenko has been.
“He’s also great for the mentality of the whole squad because he’s won titles. I think he’s come in and been absolutely fantastic. I’m really impressed with him. He’s almost like the cherry on top [of the cake].”
