Mikel Arteta’s massive summer transfer splurge hasn’t finished yet (Pictures: Getty)
Arsenal’s summer spending spree shows no signs of slowing down with the Gunners interested in poaching a second player from Ajax – but only after clearing out their bloated squad.
The north Londoners have already strengthened significantly over the past few weeks, spending over £200million this summer securing deals for Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice.
With a number of players having returned from loans, Mikel Arteta named a massive 27-man squad for Arsenal’s pre-season tour in the United States – though even that saw six players, including Thomas Partey and Reiss Nelson, not picked.
Only Pablo Mari and Granit Xhaka have brought in transfer fees so far this summer, moving to Monza and Bayer Leverkusen respectively for a combined £27m, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles left on a free transfer.
Arsenal have a host of players they still want to offload, including Kieran Tierney, Cedric Soares, Nicolas Pepe, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Nuno Tavares and Rob Holding.
According to the Daily Mail, sporting director Edu will now focus on trying to shift the club’s many fringe players – though they are still in the market for new signings.
Ajax attacker Mohammed Kudus is a player Arsenal have tracked for some time and the north Londoners could make a move later in the window once space in the squad has opened up and more funds have been recovered.
Kudus performed excellently in the second half of last season (Picture: Getty)
The 22-year-old’s versatility is particularly attractive to Arteta and he would be able to provide cover and competition in a host of positions, including an advanced midfield role, right wing and even central midfield.
Kudus had a frustrating first half of the season but performed excellently following Alfred Schreuder’s dismissal, scoring in six of eight games before a hamstring injury curtailed his momentum.
In total he netted 11 times and laid on three assists in 30 Eredivisie appearances – averaging a key involvement every 128 minutes – while he was also a livewire at the World Cup with Ghana.
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Kudus is valued at around £40m by Ajax and he is keen to make the step up to the Premier League, while the two clubs already have a good relationship from the deal that saw Timber move to the Emirates.
He has already been the subject of a rejected offer from Brighton, who could return with an improved bid, but he would favour a move to the Gunners – where Champions League football is on offer – over the Seagulls.
Notably, the one area of the squad where Arsenal are still slightly weak is the right flank, with Bukayo Saka forced to play virtually every minute last season, but Kudus would offer excellent cover having delivered some of his best displays off the right for Ajax last season.
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Jurrien Timber may not be the only player swapping Amsterdam for north London.
