ARSENAL: ROMANO CLAIMS ARTETA COULD SEEK TO REPLACE STRUGGLING STAR AS GUNNERS ‘ACCELERATE’ FOR TOP TARGET

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta could look to replace Oleksandr Zinchenko in the summer transfer window, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

The Gunners had a bad weekend with goals from Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins condemning them to their first Premier League defeat in 11 matches.

Romano: Arsenal could sign a new left-back in the summer

Arsenal could have regained top spot in the Premier League but their 2-0 defeat to Villa means they are now two points adrift pf new leaders Manchester City with six matches remaining.

David Seaman criticised Zinchenko for his role in their loss on Sunday and now Romano insists that Arsenal are considering a move for a new left-back in the summer transfer window.

Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column: “As has been reported, I can confirm that it’s a possibility for Arsenal to go for a new left-back in the summer. It’s not guaranteed yet because they still have to hold more meetings to discuss their summer plans, but a new left-back is one of the possibilities for the summer transfer window.

“There’s also been some speculation about the future of Oleksandr Zinchenko but my understanding is that nothing has been discussed yet with him – the full focus is on the final weeks of the season before that.

“Arsenal are also the latest club being linked with Bruno Guimaraes. We know they have had midfielders like Martin Zubimendi and Douglas Luiz on their list in recent times, but I’m not aware of anything concrete regarding Bruno at the moment, let’s see later this year.

“Guimaraes has been excellent for Newcastle and so he has been linked with all the clubs in Premier League basically, which is normal, but let’s wait for concrete contacts, serious talks before mentioning ten clubs per week. He’s obviously appreciated around Europe but it’s not something happening right now.”

Arsenal ‘will accelerate again’ for one of their top targets

With Romano confirming there have been no “concrete” talks with Newcastle over Guimaraes, Spanish website Fichajes claims that Arsenal ‘will accelerate again’ for their ‘great Spanish objective’ to bring in Zubimendi in the summer from Real Sociedad.

The transfer ‘could be carried out over the next few weeks for an amount close to the 50 million euros’ with Arteta keen to ‘improve the midfield’.

But it is understood that Sociedad will force ‘the London club to put the table an offer that would go above 60 million’ as the Spanish side don’t want to let him leave.

2024-04-16T08:59:00Z dg43tfdfdgfd