Arsenal book two medicals ahead of double transfer deal

The wheels of the transfer window deadline day are in motion with Arsenal, as expected, being active in the market as the hours tick down on the end of another mad-cap summer.

An incredible amount of criticism is being directed by the way of those in north London, not just at the man in the dugout but also those sitting above him in the boardroom as Edu remains a figure with few admirers.

There is undoubted mitigation for the club’s struggles in selling players this window with precious few of the Ikea warehouse full of deadwood wanted by cash-strapped clubs. Not only are the players in question not selling themselves with poor performances, they’re also unaffordable. It’s nonetheless disappointing.

And that is the situation surrounding Hector Bellerin who, despite being on the way out of the club for the best part of 12 months since he first wanted to depart, is due to leave on the eve of the 11PM deadline.

Arsenal book two medicals ahead of double transfer deal as Hector Bellerin nears Real Betis loan and Takehiro Tomiyasu edges closer to £16m move

Various clubs have been circling around the Spaniard with no offers deemed acceptable to Arsenal – even if Inter’s loan plus buy option would have been better – and he is now undergoing a medical in London, as per James Olley, ahead of a season-long loan move to Real Betis. There is no option to buy, nor is there an obligation, and Betis secure the man they tried for at the start of the summer.

Indeed, a 26-year-old defender coming into his prime will return with a year left to run on his contract and still be on the books at the club. It moves a player on who doesn’t want to be there, but doesn’t provide Arsenal with the financial gain they would have preferred this summer.

It is his transfer that has prompted the imminent £16m arrival of Takehiro Tomiyasu, who is also having his medical in Bologna ahead of signing a four-year deal with the Gunners. Add-ons will see the fee rise higher for someone Arsenal had tracked earlier in the window.

A more defensive-minded full-back, who began his career as a central defender, the 22-year-old will add the balance needed alongside Ben White in the back four to complement the more expansive approach of Kieran Tierney on the opposite flank.

Arsenal can then keep their 2-3-5/3-2-5 attacking shape in possession and revert to the 4-4-2 without the ball, with the Japan international utilised in a similar method under Siniša Mihajlović at Bologna.

Coupled with other ongoings, this deadline day is shaping up to be a busy one – it already is – while this also grants Arteta his preferred back four and takes the summer’s spending to nearly £150m, an eye-watering figure.