Arsenal eye £46m triple sale to fund midfielder signing

TERESOPOLIS, BRAZIL - MAY 21: The General Coordinator of the Brazilian national football team, Edu Gaspar, attends a press conference at Granja Comary Training Center for the first phase of preparation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia on May 21, 2018 in Teresopolis, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
TERESOPOLIS, BRAZIL - MAY 21: The General Coordinator of the Brazilian national football team, Edu Gaspar, attends a press conference at Granja Comary Training Center for the first phase of preparation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia on May 21, 2018 in Teresopolis, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal, Edu
Arsenal eye £46m triple sale of Lacazette, Nkeitah and Leno to fund January transfer signing of Lille midfielder Renato Sanches. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images) /

Across the entirety of the summer transfer window, despite Arsenal parting with roughly £150m on new talent, they only brought in around £27m worth from sales.

92.5% of that was the result of Joe Willock’s move to Newcastle with the rest coming from Lucas Torreira’s loan fee to Fiorentina, a total that fell well below the figures being banded about before the window had opened.

The likes of Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah were touted as big money sales, and in the end costed Arsenal even more money having not been moved on and instead collecting further wages.

Thus, the idea that £46m worth is going to make its way through north London doors in January sounds just somewhat debatable.

Arsenal eye £46m triple sale of Lacazette, Nkeitah and Leno to fund January transfer signing of Lille midfielder Renato Sanches

It’s been made apparent that the money is not only there, but there to spend. Mikel Arteta has been backed in the transfer market to invest in his squad and as he continues to remodel the team there is reason to imagine that he will be propped up with more funding – especially with midfield and striker on the agenda in the coming windows.

There will need to be some supplementing, though. It was reported everywhere that any summer purchases would need a helping hand from sales made, and with precious little coming in during that period in relation to what went out, focus is set to shift towards accruing once again.

As per Calcio Mercato, £46m is hoped to be brought in during the window from three sales to fund a move for Lille’s Renato Sanches.

The midfielder has been heavily linked with a transfer away from Ligue 1 as AC Milan and Arsenal prop up the interest table, with the 24-year-old publicly stating a desire to move on to ‘bigger things’ in the coming windows.

In a bid to meet Lille’s demands, the Gunners will look to move on Bernd Leno, Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah in the January window.

Lacazette and Nketiah have deals expiring in the summer and at the risk of losing them for nothing feature under the ‘sellable’ tag, while Leno is firmly backup choice to Aaron Ramsdale and his own desire for regular minutes could fast-track a winter departure.

It all sounds rather exciting: three players who don’t have futures at Arsenal leaving for a combined sum that could help the club bring in an exciting midfield talent. Why not?

Because it’s all a load of rubbish, unfortunately.

Continued on next page…