Arsenal to complete their first signing of the summer today: report

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Arsenal have completed their first signing of the transfer window, ahead of a busy summer

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta during a training session at London Colney on April 11, 2023 in St Albans, England.
(Image credit: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Arsenal are set to complete their first signing of the 2023 summer transfer window within the next few hours.

The Gunners are looking at bringing in four players early on in this window, with talks in recent days over deals for Declan Rice, Romeo Lavia, Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz, as Mikel Arteta looks to refresh his squad ahead of the new season.

Now, it would appear that the latter is all but complete, with Fabrizio Romano giving the deal his famous "Here we go" confirmation. 

Kai Havertz of Chelsea celebrates after scoring their side's first goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge on October 08, 2022 in London, England

Kai Havertz has moved from Chelsea to Arsenal (Image credit: Harriet Lander - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Havertz joins Arsenal for a reported £60 million, with £5m of add-ons, should he hit performance and team-related bonuses. 

Formerly Chelsea's record signing, the German agreed terms with the Gunners this week ahead of a move across London, as the Blues go on a selling spree. Mauricio Pochettino would like the freedom to shape his squad this summer and needs outgoings before making new signings. 

Already this week, Romano has signed off his "Here we go" for Mateo Kovacic to move to Manchester City, along with three other Stamford Bridge stars to the Saudi Pro League: Kalidou Koulibaly to Al Hilal; Hakim Ziyech to Al Nassr and Edouard Mendy to Al Ahli.

Havertz is Chelsea's biggest sale of the summer so far though – and their biggest since selling Eden Hazard to Real Madrid for around £100m – as chairman Todd Boehly looks to trim a bloated squad. 

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly attends the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Everton at Stamford Bridge in London on March 18, 2023.

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly is in full-on sell mode this summer (Image credit: GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)

Havertz becomes the first German to play for Arsenal since Bernd Leno, now at Fulham. He leaves Chelsea as a cult hero, having scored the winner in the 2021 Champions League final.

The 24-year-old is valued at €55m by Transfermarkt. 

More Arsenal stories

Arsenal transfer news is ramping up this summer, with the Gunners set to loosen their wage structure to attract the best players.

Moises Caicedo is heavily linked, Xavi Simons is on the radar, Ivan Fresneda could join and Ilkay Gundogan is wanted, too. Arsenal could sell £100m worth of players, too – with William Saliba, Martin Odegaard and Thomas Partey all wanted by clubs overseas.

Jay Bothroyd, meanwhile, has told FFT that the Gunners perhaps surprisingly, should be in the market for a striker.

Mark White
Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.