Arsenal are on a roll!
The North London giants look to strengthen their team following their heartbreaking 2022/23 Premier League title collapse, with the Gunners missing out on the league crown to rivals Manchester City despite topping the table for most of the season.
Up until yesterday, only one deal had been completed and that was the Kai Havertz signing. However, in less than 24 hours, that quickly changed, with Edu and Co. wrapping up three deals.
The first is the most obvious one and that is Declan Rice, the midfield sensation who has been priority no.1 for the Gunners all summer. As revealed by the Athletic, Arsenal finally finalized a deal for the Three Lions ace after ironing out all the details with West Ham.
The biggest hurdle surrounding this move was the structure of the payments. The Hammers wanted the guaranteed portion of the deal paid within 18 months while Arteta's side wished to spread it across four to five years. The two sides came to a compromise that will see the Gunners complete the payments by 2025.
While Arsenal fans were still relishing this latest signing, the Athletic confirmed another addition to Arteta's squad. After weeks of negotiations, the Premier League giants finally completed a deal with Ajax for Dutch defender Jurrien Timber, with the Netherlands ace set to undergo his medical this week alongside Rice.
The English top-flight heavyweights have agreed to pay €40M ($34M) for the 22-year-old plus an additional €5M (roughly $4.3M) in achievable add-ons. While there are questions over Timber and how he will fit in Mikel's system, the Gunners have signed an undeniable talent for a relatively modest fee.
And the good news did not stop there. As revealed by CBS Sports, the North London club have also wrapped up contract negotiations with Reiss Nelson, the Hale End graduate who could have left for free. The club have succeeded in tying down the winger to a new four-year deal which will save them millions as they won't have to dive into the market to sign a replacement.
Reiss Nelson will sign his long awaited contract today, a four year deal with Arsenal.
— James Benge (@jamesbenge) July 5, 2023
While it remains unclear whether Saka and Co. will win the Premier League for the first time since 2004 following their transfer dealings, one thing is certain: the club is winning off the pitch. Add to that the recent deals for highly-rated youngster Ethan Nwaneri and the signing of goalscoring machine Alessio Russo for the women's team and there's a lot to celebrate in North London.
