Arsenal: Verge of successful summer before it started

If the reports in the media are to be believed, Arsenal are on the verge of a very good summer. And the window hasn’t even got going yet.

Arsenal are making moves. That is for sure. As of writing — Wednesday afternoon –, they may have only made one official signing but there is plenty more in the pipeline that will be officially confirmed in the coming weeks.

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The only official addition is the free-agent acquisition of Stephan Lichtsteiner, the 34-year-old right-back, having signed a contract after his current deal expired at Juventus where he won seven consecutive Serie A titles. But there is more on the way.

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Defender Sokratis Papatathopoulos is an assumed certainty. Borussia Dortmund have accepted a £16 million offer, the player has agreed to personal terms and has reportedly passed a medical, but the deal will have to wait until July as the German’s want the deal to count against the next fiscal year which begins next month. And then midfielder Lucas Torreira and goalkeeper Bernd Leno are expected to sign also, both coming in at £26 million and £20 million respectively.

Finally, Arsenal are also one of several teams pursuing Gelson Martins on a free transfer after the Sporting Lisbon winger moved to void his contract and resign from the team on grounds of ‘just cause’ after he and his teammates were attacked at the training ground, an attack that saw striker Bas Dost receive several cuts to the head. The winger is reportedly interested in a move to north London and could be available for nothing.

If all these deals are completed — I expect all of them to be completed other than perhaps the Martins one, which is still up in the air somewhat –, then, suddenly, Arsenal have not only addressed many of their major needs — goalkeeper, centre-half, full-back, defensive midfield, wing –, but they have done so economically and efficiently.

It would be, therefore, remiss of me to not praise Sven Mislintat, Unai Emery, Ivan Gazidis and Raul Sanllehi for their work. Signing five players that all address positions of need for a combined £52 million plus wages is an outstanding piece of business.

Now, there is still a long way to go with some of the deals — Martins, Torreira, Leno — and I do have my reservations regarding some of their abilities to completely fill the need — Leno, Sokratis. But given the restricted budget that Gazidis et al. are working under, simply to find five remotely viable candidates is somewhat impressive.

Next: Arsenal: 3 players impacted by Lucas Torreira signing

And this is all before the World Cup has gotten underway and the transfer window has really started rolling. This is Arsenal and I will never quite believe that they have secured a signing until it is official, but, for now, this has been some very good work indeed. The Gunners are on the verge of an incredibly successful summer.