Arsenal are gearing up for what has been described as a game-changing summer window – and their three top targets have already been identified, while a fourth in Matheus Cunha is also strongly under consideration as part of a possible £224m quadruple swoop.
The Gunners look destined to finish second in the Premier League for a third successive season, though the gap to Liverpool this season looks set to be wider than the previous margins when finishing as runners-up behind Manchester City. Now, in order to close that gap in the 2025/25 campaign – and end Arsenal‘s long 21-year wait to become champions of England – the Gunners are gearing up for an unprecedented summer window.
To that end, and having this week confirmed the appointment of Andrea Berta as their new sporting director, a big push will be made to strengthen in midfield and across the attack this summer, with Martin Zubimendi, Nico Williams and Viktor Gyokeres now emerging as their three top targets.
Talks over the signing of all three stars has been given the green light by those in the corridors of power at Emirates Stadium, with reporter David Ornstein this week confirming Arsenal’s confidence in getting a deal for the first of those, in Zubimendi, over the line.
“Without wanting to discredit the reporting of others, I personally haven’t heard this [that Real Madrid could sign Zubimendi],” Ornstein said in a Q&A.
“Arsenal are expecting Zubimendi to join them from Real Sociedad in the summer. I don’t know if that means it is completely done but for some time now they have been working on the basis that he’ll be coming in. A huge amount of work went into getting them to that point — while Edu was still sporting director and subsequently when Jason Ayto took over that job on an interim basis.”
However, a €60m (£50m) deal for Zubimendi is just the tip of the iceberg, with the €58m Nico Williams and a €75m swoop for Gyokeres also gathering pace.
Furthermore, Berta is also an admirer of Wolves star Cunha and he is currently trying to convince the club to meet the £62.5m release clause in his deal.
And while some at Arsenal are not convinced if the Brazilian is the right fit, deals for all four players would set the club back a massive £224m (€263m, $288.6m).
GO DEEPER 🔴⚪ The dream Arsenal XI for 2025/26 with three new signings to finally win Premier League title
Arsenal transfers: Williams deal rated as Gyokeres talks are scheduled
TEAMtalk transfer insider Fraser Fletcher revealed this week that, in addition to Zubimendi, the Gunners are gaining belief that a deal for Williams is also on the cards too. To that end, sources have told TEAMtalk that there is a growing confidence at Arsenal that the Bilbao winger will join them this summer.
The north London club are pushing hard to land the 22-year-old winger, who won Euro 2024 with Spain last summer, and work is being done to put all the pieces in place for him to come in the coming months.
We’ve been told that Berta is key to the move going through and he is using all his resources to help land Arteta his target.
Furthermore, efforts to bring Gyokeres to Emirates Stadium are also being ramped up.
While Alexander Isak is the dream target for Mikel Arteta, Newcastle’s likely demand for a fee of £130m-plus is set to push him beyond the realms of what is possible at Arsenal.
Instead, Gyokeres has seemingly been identified as their next prefered target and earlier this week, Ben Jacobs revealed on TEAMtalk that Arsenal want to move early for a striker signing and could make use of the exceptional transfer window at the start of June.
Premier League clubs have been granted a 10-day period before the main summer transfer window opens in order to make signings ahead of the Club World Cup, even if they aren’t playing in it.
Arsenal are prioritising a striker signing and could even aim to wrap one up in those first 10 days of June.
Furthermore, it was reported on Saturday that Gyokeres’ agent will be in attendance for the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid at the Emirates Stadium.
It’s speculated that it could be a sign of negotiations being about to begin as Arsenal try to steal a march on other clubs interested in Gyokeres.
The report names Newcastle United as a potential threat for the Sweden international, who has also emerged on Nottingham Forest’s radar.
Arsenal transfer latest: Sesko update; Harry Kane to trip up Gunners plans?
Should Arsenal fail to land Gyokeres, then the Gunners could turn to Benjamin Sesko instead.
According to Jacobs, the Slovenian is already aware that a move to the Gunners is a plausible this summer, having revealed the striker’s true thoughts over a possible summer switch.
Meanwhile, the Gunners could see their links to Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sane quickly ended, amid claims Harry Kane is advising the star to reject a move to north London and commit his future elsewhere.
Elsewhere, the Spanish media has revealed that Arsenal are interested in a Brazilian player that Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim got rid of in the January transfer window.