My Arsenal Blog

Arsenal are obviously working hard on strengthening their ranks for the upcoming season. They’ve managed to convince Eddie Nketiah to sign a new contract and stay put, thus ensuring that the striker department isn’t left completely bare, and they’ve apparently completed the signing of midfielder Fabio Vieira from FC Porto, though we’re still waiting for the Gunners to confirm that as the Portuguese club already have.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal are now working on a deal to sign Lisandro Martinez from Ajax. Primarily a centre-back, the 24-year-old Argentinian can play as a fullback on either side as well, and as a defensive midfielder is tasked with that role.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal are set to step up their interest in Andre Onana and are preparing to enter negotiations with Ajax after the goalkeeper saw his doping ban reduced to nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sports, according to Charles Watts of Goal.com. Onana will now be able to return to action in November, which means he wouldn’t miss too many matches at the start of the season.

There is still much uncertainty over the future of Bernd Leno. The German is reportedly keen on leaving the Emirates this summer and the club aren’t opposed to the idea, providing a suitable offer for his services arrives. That would, of course, mean the Gunners would need another No.1 for the near future.  .......Read more here.....

There have been several signs lately that may be pointing towards Arsenal bringing Marc Overmars to the club this summer.

The former winger, now 47, joined the Gunners in the summer of 1997, and having played a total of 131 games under Arsene Wenger and won one Premier League title and one FA Cup, he left in 2000 to join Barcelona.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal are reportedly one of the clubs closely monitoring developments surrounding the future of Hakim Ziyech.

The Ajax winger, also very capable of playing centrally as a No. 10, scored 21 goals and laid on 24 assists in all competitions this season, and was a key member of the team that not only produced a fabulous run to the Champions League semifinal, but also won the domestic league/cup double in Netherlands.

Naturally, such performances are always likely to attract interest from top European clubs. The likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Bayern Munich have all been credited with strong interest in the 26-year-old, but there is apparently a reason why Arsenal may have an edge over any of these suitors.  .......Read more here.....

Regardless of what team you support or how much you despise the sides around you, at some point, everyone needs to take a minute to stop and admire the work of others. We aren’t saying that you need to go completely over the top with your praise or anything like that, because football fans are stubborn. However, there are rare instances in which you just can’t ignore the facts that are staring you right in the face.  .......Read more here.....

Reported Arsenal target Ajax’s Nicolas Tagliafico is set to leave the Dutch club. The 26-year-old Argentinian international has risen to prominence in the last few seasons and looks set for a new challenge next season.

His agent has confirmed Tagliafico is likely to move on

The Metro quoted the player’s agent Ricardo Schlieper as saying ‘Ajax made an offer, but it wasn’t accepted because it’s the right time to take a leap,’

‘Let’s see what happens in the market. ‘There has been no talk of numbers with Ajax, but they will ask for a significant amount – I think it will be more than €20million [£17m].’  .......Read more here.....

Following Monchi’s decision to return to Sevilla rather than come to north London, former Arsenal winger Marc Overmars became the favorite for the role of technical director at the club. However, the Dutchman has now picked a different option as well, rubbing salt in Arsenal’s wounds.

“There are still plenty of challenges at Ajax and I’m having a good time here,” said Overmars, as quoted by the BBC.

“We are taking steps with both the youth academy and the first team and we still want to show a lot.”  .......Read more here.....

According to reports in Italy, Arsenal have submitted an £8million bid for Ajax’s Nicolas Tagliafico.

Tagliafico is a left-back who started his career in his homeland of Argentina, where he first spent five years as a Banfield player, although he was on a season-long loan in Spain with Real Murcia for the 2012/13 season. In 2015, he moved to Independiente, and he joined Ajax in January this year for a fee of £4million. He played 15 games for the Dutch team last season and scored a solitary goal.  .......Read more here.....

Ajax star Hakim Ziyech is being linked with a move to Arsenal courtesy of his agent Rene van der Dijp. The Dutch agent has talked about wanting the likes of Arsenal or Liverpool to make a bid for the Moroccan international.

Van der Dijp told Dutch publication Voetbal Primeur: “I hope that there will be a better club than Roma – an Arsenal or Liverpool,” That is a major insult to the Giallorossi, who have a fine history.  .......Read more here.....

According to a report in the Mirror, Arsenal are interested in securing the signature of Ajax teenage defender Matthijs De Ligt.

With Per Mertesacker’s retirement imminent, and the fact that Laurent Koscielny is turning 33 later this year, the club are well in the process of rejuvenating the team’s back line. Shkodran Mustafi is an at excellent player, and at the age of 25, he’s about to enter his prime as a defender. Calum Chambers has hardly cemented a spot in the starting XI, but considering the time he’s been around, it’s very easy to forget he’s still only 23. Rob Holding turns 23 in September, while the Gunners’ first signing of the year, Konstantinos Mavropanos, is 20.  .......Read more here.....