Arsenal: Caglar Soyuncu must mean a sale, right?

Caglar Soyuncu has publicly stated that he wants a move to Arsenal. His reported £35-million arrival in north London must mean a sale, though, right?

The talk is rising. This is how it often starts. A name is floated in the public atmosphere, a response often comes from the player, an agent or even a club, and then the wheels are set in motion and the news slowly drips out as the transfer inches closer. Arsenal fans have been here before.

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And after a series of weeks of the name being highlighted as a possible target, it now seems as though the Gunners could very seriously be looking at Caglar Soyuncu as a potential addition this summer.

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It was reported by Sky Sports two weeks ago and has now been followed up by several different sources from different countries, including Soyuncu himself stating that he would like a move to Arsenal, which confirms — or at the very least it heavily implies — that there has been contact between the club and the player. So there is something there. We might not quite know what that is yet. But there’s something there.

But if Arsenal do have hopes of being able to prise Soyuncu away from Freiburg, then it will take resource, resource that they do not reportedly have. Entering the summer, the figure that was widely bandied around was £50 million, a fairly pitiful amount if they do actually see themselves as genuine title challengers. Since then, reports have hinted that it could rise, though the figures discussed are not exactly mindblowing.

If Soyuncu was to arrive in north London, then it would not be for peanuts. He is a highly-touted, 22-year-old centre-half who has attracted interest from throughout Europe. That is not a cheap player. And the reported fee of £35 million is in the right ballpark of what it would take to secure his services.

Assuming that deals for Lucas Torreira and Sokratis Papastathopoulos are completed for £26 million and £16 million respectively as is expected, with Bernd Leno costing £20 million already, that would put the summer spending spree at £97 million. Only once in the history of the club have Arsenal spent more than that figure in a summer window, and even then it was only £10 million more than that mark.

Soyuncu’s arrival, then, one would assume, necessitates a sale. It’s a simple question of maths and the financial numbers do not add up. Now, it is possible that the budget is bigger than has been reported. But that seems like a fairly optimistic and unrealistic argument to make. In reality, if Soyuncu arrives, someone must probably leave.

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Who that someone is, remains to be seen. Calum Chambers is very similar to Soyuncu. Could he be a replacement? Perhaps Shkodran Mustafi or Aaron Ramsey or Rob Holding. Whoever it may be, if Soyuncu does sign, a tough decision may have to be made.