According to reports, Arsenal have been dealt a transfer blow as Chelsea have held ‘new talks’ over beating the Gunners to a signing.
The Gunners have made significant progress in the transfer market in recent weeks, as they are on the brink of finalising three more signings.
So far this summer, Arsenal have invested around £75m to sign Martin Zubimendi, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Christian Norgaard, while their spend will exceed £200m if/when they sign Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and Cristhian Mosquera in the coming days.
This makes for a successful window for Arsenal, but they are not standing still and are ready to turn to another signing.
On Wednesday afternoon, Arsenal expert Charles Watts revealed ‘all of their focus will switch to whether they can complete the window by adding a left-sided attacking option’ after landing Gyokeres, Madueke and Mosquera, with Eberechi Eze and Rodrygo among their targets.
Watts explained: “We know there is interest in Eberechi Eze, although at this point it is my understanding that talks have only taken place with the England international’s representatives, rather than with Crystal Palace,” Watts said in his column for Caught Offside.
READ: ‘Next’ five Arsenal transfers after trio of ‘agreed’ signings are completed mooted amid new priority
“Rodrygo is another player on the club’s radar, with the Brazilian’s future at Real Madrid very much up in the air following his lack of game time at the Club World Cup.
“Out of the two, I would say Eze would be the easier deal to do, purely from a financial perspective, but I couldn’t say right now who the club will end up going up for. It would just be guesswork at this point.
“Both are players of interest, but I think it will come down to the finances involved. Arsenal have spent a lot of money already this summer, so they might need to do a bit of work now trying to balance the books a bit before completing the final piece of the jigsaw from a squad building point of view.”
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27-year-old Eze has become an England regular as he was one of the standout performers in the Premier League in 2024/25 with 25 goal involvements in 43 appearances.
Eze has a £68m release clause in his Palace contract and Arsenal face competition for the versatile forward, with a recent report claiming they are going ‘head-to-head’ with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
This saga has since taken a fresh twist, though. Journalist Simon Phillips confirms Chelsea have ‘held new talks’ with Eze’s ‘agent’ over a move to Stamford Bridge this summer.
