Arsenal have struck their second deal of the summer – with the buying club set to accept their offer, “without hesitation”.
The Gunners appear to be out of the title race, finding themselves 13 points behind Liverpool with just 11 games to play. Manager Mikel Arteta has struggled with injuries all term and is currently missing four first-team forwards, in the shape of Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus.
After a goalless draw against Nottingham Forest last night, Arteta told his post-match conference, that Arsenal are “adapting the quality that we have”, but with just the Champions League left to play for, there's an acceptance that this summer could be a big one in terms of squad churn.
Arsenal have agreed their next deal of the summer
Arsenal look like losing several players this summer. Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kieran Tierney, Leandro Trossard, Jakub Kiwior, Fabio Vieira and Reiss Nelson are all candidates to leave, while major first-team stars, Thomas Partey and Jorginho, are both out of contract.
In anticipation of either no.6 actually departing, The Mail journalist Sami Mokbel broke the exclusive last month that a transfer for Martin Zubimendi was “virtually complete” – but now, it appears as if the next deal is ready to go, too.
Spanish outlet AS has reported on Espanyol goalkeeper, Joan Garcia, who has been consistently linked to Arsenal over the last year or so.
Last summer, the North Londoners had agreed terms with the Spaniard but failed to land him after refusing to meet the player's release clause. Instead, Arsenal signed Bournemouth stopper Neto on loan.
Now, AS claims that there's a “good chance” that Garcia could link up with compatriot David Raya – who's ranked at no.4 in FourFourTwo's list of the best goalkeepers in the world right now – and that despite the La Liga side rejecting €20 million for the keeper last summer, they would now accept the same offer, “without hesitation”.
FourFourTwo understands that Arsenal are still looking for a long-term no.2 to challenge Raya. With a release clause that rises to €30m if Garcia plays international football, however, AS's claims about the Catalan side accepting two-thirds of that may not cast iron.
With Arsenal facing the prospect of having to pay for Zubimendi's release clause in full, it's unlikely that they will pay Garcia's, too, committing €80m on two players this summer, with no instalments, before signing a striker. Arteta will surely have to negotiate a more structured plan for Garcia or risks having to sign another backup custodian on the cheap.
Garcia is valued at €10m by Transfermarkt. Arsenal are in Champions League action next week, with their next match away in Eindhoven against PSV.
