flobaba Yes definitely is. https://www.squawka.com/en/features/martin-zubimendi-arsenal-transfer-midfield/ An article on him which you might find useful.

Xavi was obsessed with the idea of bringing him to Barca, Busquets thinks he should be the one to replace him at Barca, Xabi Alonso loves the player and wants to bring him to Real Madrid if he goes there. Then you have Arteta obsessed with him, Liverpool tried their best to sign him. This guy is the real deal.

    Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert he's got one of the best right wingers in world football and someone on the other side who was on a similar trajectory up to about two seasons ago (and still could be a very good player, if not quite Saka standard) The idea that he wouldn't love someone of Saka like quality up top seems fanciful to me.

        RocktheCasbah whilst I see what you mean he didn't bring either player in and that's what we haven't seen from Arteta in an action sense in recruitment. Martinelli certainly looked promising but I think it's reasonable to say the manager and club should be working on he isn't quite going to develop as we hoped so we are lacking in that sense. The profile of forward he's tended to prioritise have not been in the guise of Saka and have conformed to his seeming focus on hard work over individual game changing attacking quality.

            TambourineMan Fully onboard the Ekitike bandwagon over Sesko. I think Sesko will be fine but Ekitike looks like he will explode in the right attack and create more for himself and others.

              RocktheCasbah of course, but he didn't sign either of those two.

              My post was tongue in cheek anyway. Let's hope the new Arteta-Berta duo makes a big splash on 1st July.

                Big Willie It's a lot for sure but we've already done a lot of the ground work for Sesko, Williams, Zubimendi and Garcia so hopefully Berta can just come in and get those over the line. Guimaraes is a pipe dream IMO and personally I'd rather go for another attacking midfielder with more technical ability to round out the midfield since Rice/Merino/Zubimendi/MLS would all be more than adequate cover at the deeper midfield positions.

                Every journalist, including Ornstein, is saying we are going to have a big summer. We aren't hearing the same club speak through outlets of "one in, one out" or needing to be careful with PSR regulations so I do expect we will be very active - hopefully early on.

                  awooga83 I just meant, as I've said before, there hasn't been the urgency to go out and spend money on the forward line in the way there was in defence and midfield. We had Laca, Auba and Pepe when Arteta arrived, with Saka and Martinelli coming through.

                  To me, it's logical (whatever people's opinions of the quality of those players), given those circumstances, we haven't spent on the forward line, not evidence Arteta doesn't want to improve it. What sense would it make for him to only build 3/4 of a title winning team?

                      Sicario2 - Tier 1 when it comes to the club, that's fair.

                      But if you look at how ruthless Arteta has been with the playing squad and the improvements made to defence and midfield, it just doesn't track that he wouldn't want to do the same to the forward line. It makes no sense at all.

                        USArsenal we have limited scope on who we can sign. A big name DM is crucial but 2 would be poor allocation of resources given our needs. We have to play by PSR rules and while it gives us plenty of scope for signings big players of the Zubi/Bruno variety are needed at CF and LW rather than as back up in midfield. We probably do need another midfielder beyond one of those guys if we lose Partey and Jorginho but I think it makes more sense to get one big player and another Jorginho/Merino level player to back them up.

                        Vieira cannot come back. Nwaneri is there, Dowman is coming through, MLS is capable in midfield, we have Merino and Rice. We don't need another 8. As for Vieira he has to be sold. He's way below standard for this squad.

                        samthegooner A Sesko/Williams/Zubimendi/Garcia/Guimaraes summer would be incredible though. Add in a creative midfielder that could also play on the wing (Cunha/Eze/Moleiro/etc) and a LB if we sell Zinchenko and that's 10/10 in my book.

                        Of course that'd be a great summer but it'd also be around £350m of a spend. Quite possible more. I don't think its realistic.

                        Claudius folks were lukewarm on Isaks output too when we got Jesus instead. Sometimes you have to look beyond output and to ability and potential.

                                Zubimendi's turned into one of those ones where the amount of talk, over years now, means we've either already all but signed him, or he'll never actually come to Arsenal. Yes, I know about his clause and so on. But I'll believe it when he's announced.

                                  Burnwinter a lot of Arsenal fans getting a bit of potential ‘buyers remorse’ with Zubi as in he’s good but is he that good? Will signing him move the needle? I prefer Bruno and it’s been a while since we’ve had a cunt in the team

                                    Burnwinter means we've either already all but signed him, or he'll never actually come to Arsenal.

                                    We'll sign him or we wont. Wow Burns with insight like that you should start a podcast.

                                        Qwiss I'm not really counting Guimaraes in the realistic category. To me, the 4 players we've been heavily linked with seem to be the most realistic.
                                        Sesko - rumors of anywhere from £50m to £75m in a formal/informal clause
                                        Williams - rumors of £50m - £65m clause
                                        Zubimendi - £52.5m release clause which we will likely pay a little more than to gain flexibility so maybe £60m-£65m
                                        Garcia - £25m release clause

                                        Clearly wages will factor in as well but we are also going to be cutting at least £420k per week with Partey, Jorginho and Tierney leaving. So on the high end of these fees, we'd be looking at closer to £230m for the four of them, which I think is quite reasonable. Even if we assume we pay a bit more than these fees to gain additional flexibility and not have to pay clauses in one lump sum, we're likely still looking at closer to £250m. And personally, I think we are going to spend more this summer especially if we have a few sales.

                                          Is there any particular reason why people seem to be allergic to talking about Sverre Nypan when discussing this summer's transfer window? I don't really know how good he is, but it seems like we're probably going to sign him and (if we sign him) he'll probably have a role to play in the team.

                                            DiabyKungFu Honestly I just forgot about him! He'd be a great addition of course. Ideally, we could find a similar profile (very young with a high ceiling) on the wing to bring in as well for depth there too.