Arsenal are set to lose a promising young talent to a Premier League rival before the transfer window slams shut.
The Gunners have been extremely quiet this month, failing to bring in a new face, despite manager Mikel Arteta insisting that his squad is one of the thinnest in the Premier League.
“It wasn't possible,” the Spaniard said in regards to targeting incoming players. “We didn't have the capacity to improve the team in the way that we think we want to improve it, so we decided not to do something yet.”
There will be at least one outgoing at London Colney, however, as Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that left-back Lino Sousa will be departing for Aston Villa.
Romano tweeted that the likes of Juventus were interested in the 2005-born defender, who has not yet appeared in the senior side under Mikel Arteta. Sousa has made the bench in Europe but rather like a few other Hale End prospects, has not been granted minutes in the first team.
The only debutant to take their bow under Arteta last season was 15-year-old Ethan Nwaneri against Brentford for a short cameo. Charles Sagoe Jr, meanwhile, appeared for the Gunners during the League Cup this season.
The last business of any kind between Arsenal and Aston Villa was the 2020 transfer of Emiliano Martinez from the Emirates Stadium to the Midlands.
Sousa is valued at €2m by Transfermarkt.
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