Twenty-one names on one list
Twenty-one. That is how many players Arsenal worked on this summer, according to the Daily Mail. Not half-formed ideas scribbled on a whiteboard. Proper files, several of them taken a long way down the line.
Vinicius Junior was on it. The Brazilian ran the rumour mill for weeks before signing a new deal at Real Madrid. Julian Alvarez, Joao Pedro, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Bradley Barcola and Yan Diomande were there too. Seven players valued at or above 100 million euros, at a club that had just won the English title.
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Three who ended up with the neighbours
The list ran deeper than the headline names. Sandro Tonali, Elliot Anderson and Morgan Rogers were all on it. They now play for Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea. Three direct rivals got there first.
Arsenal also tracked Kenan Yildiz at Juventus, Nico Paz and Jacobo Ramon at Como, Malick Fofana at Lyon, Jeremy Monga and Louis Page at Leicester, Ivan Fresneda at Sporting, Tarik Muharemovic at Sassuolo. Then Eli Junior Kroupi and Alex Scott at Bournemouth, plus Amadou Onana at Aston Villa. Nobody in that recruitment department had a quiet August.
Still no number nine
What actually landed: 87 million euros on Bruno Guimaraes, 60 on Ezri Konsa, 40 on Christos Tzolis, and Illan Meslier on a free after leaving Leeds. Below what Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool laid out. The striker never came.
Gabriel Heinze sounded out Lautaro Martinez late in the window and got nowhere. Joao Pedro was looked at until Chelsea made him untouchable. Meanwhile the Viktor Gyokeres situation is raising eyebrows around the Emirates. Mikel Arteta is not budging: “satisfied with our window? yes, 100 %.”
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