Arsenal: 2 deadline day transfer moves near completion

With mere hours to go until the summer transfer window slams shut, as usual Arsenal has been rather quiet when it needs to be proactive. News overnight had been nothing short of interesting to say the least, with a host of players set to leave through the Emirates door. First was Ainsley Maitland-Niles and his very public plea to leave.

The 24-year-old Englishman put a status out on his Instagram stating ‘All I wanna do is go where I’m wanted and where I’m gonna play’, even tagging the club, and as you can imagine this was soaked up by the Arsenal fanbase.

What prompted this very public announcement? Well, Arsenal rejected Everton’s loan bid with an option to buy. After the social media post, Mikel Arteta and Edu summoned Maitland-Niles for a meeting to resolve the matter and to indicate to the player that he would not be allowed to leave the club and join a rival.

Maitland-Niles was said to have left the meeting rather confused as to where he fits into Arteta’s plans this season. While it still remains a possibility that Maitland-Niles is shipped out, the fact that he could have been going to another Premier League club could have had an impact on the move. It is all becoming embarrassing for a club once steeped in class both on and off the field.

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Deadline day deals for Hector Bellerin and Reiss Nelson near completion as Arsenal aim to conclude multiple moves before window closes

As for Hector Bellerin, the Spanish right-back is locked in talks over a loan move to La Liga side Real Betis. At the time of writing, the deal is believed to be a loan with faint murmurs of a buy option and is expected to be completed sometime on deadline day.

Spanish giants Barcelona were interested in a player plus cash swap with Bellerin and Emerson, however, as per Gerard Romero, Barca wanted €20m as well as Bellerin, with talks ultimately collapsing. Offering only €10m and Bellerin,  this ended negotiations and allows Betis to swoop in and complete the signing.

Then there was Willian and his decision to tear up his contract, saving the club around £20m as he sealed his move to Brazilian side Corinthians. After arriving from Chelsea last summer on a three-year deal, Willian severely underwhelmed.

He struggled to make an impact despite making 37 appearances for Arsenal last season, scoring just one goal. Now out of the club, and in the manner he did, deserves praise. It’s quite the gesture.

Despite still having two years left on his deal, a decision was made to essentially cut ties with him and save some serious cash in the process.

There are still a host of deals that could go through on deadline day. Crystal Palace have pulled the plug on Eddie Nketiah as Arsenal drove a hard bargain (why?) as they instead close in on Celtic hitman Odsonne Edouard.

The Eagles tabled an offer to Arsenal of £10m but the Gunners wanted double that and it was deemed as a take-it-or-leave-it offer from Palace. As it stands we are still unsure if Nketiah will remain, but again, it feels like penny-pinching from the club when transfers have been notoriously hard to complete.

Another player that could be on the move is Mohamed Elneny. Faint murmurs of him being courted by Galatasaray have emerged as Elneny enters the in the last year of his deal. It’s a fair assumption to make that it would be a permanent deal, not a loan.

Other players in Reiss Nelson and even captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are reportedly been sounded out by clubs are the transfer rumour mill starts to gather momentum, but it would be hard to envisage. Nelson, however, is closing in on a loan to Feyenoord after signing a one-year extension on his contract.

So, it looks to be a monumental deadline day for Arsenal as they aim to get a host of players out of the club either permanently or on loan. All the while potentially still trying to bring in another player or two.

Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira has already joined Serie A side Fiorentina on a season long loan with an option to buy for €15m and it appears several others will follow suit.

What happens in the next 24 hours or so will go a long way in either soothing the fanbase or further enraging them. Arsenal, Edu, Arteta, everyone, it’s time to get serious.