Arsenal handed welcome transfer escape route

We’re barely a week in and already Arsenal supporters have been inundated with transfer speculation, as well as actual movement, across the winter window.

Whatever it is that the Gunners have planned, with there being activity so soon into the window it’s reassuring that if there is to be incomings on top of the departures, then there is time to do so.

Preparing loan moves for Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Folarin Balogun already, the midfielder is joining Roma with ample time to secure a replacement, or to plan ahead. As for Balogun, the sooner he leaves the sooner he can dive head first into first team action.

A host of other players could be on the move with many of the fringe options in north London surplus to requirements, although it’s Eddie Nketiah who is the subject of legitimate interest as this stage.

https://twitter.com/Carabao_Cup/status/1478359308043755521

Arsenal could earn welcome transfer escape route with Eddie Nketiah wanted by Premier League duo Newcastle and Crystal Palace on permanent deal

Not willing to stick around and sign a new contract with the prospect of minutes thin, the prospect of losing him for free in the summer when his current deal expires is a realistic outcome for Arsenal. Clubs abroad are eager to sign the man in fine (Carabao Cup) form down to a pre-contract agreement, with the possibility of a fee for Arsenal set to be all they can accrue from a tribunal.

Will they be handed an escape route? One final chance of accruing some welcome finance?

As per Luke Edwards at the Telegraph, Newcastle United’s worrying striker situation is causing them to reassess their priorities this window. Callum Wilson is set to miss six weeks with a calf injury, but with the scans not fully completed that absence could stretch to months.

Defenders are high up on the Magpies’ shopping list but Eddie Howe wants to bolster his forward line with strikers of Premier League experience. Liverpool’s Divock Origi and Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke are also on the list, although the latter will be tougher to lure away from the Cherries mid-season.

Nketiah has been scouted extensively by Newcastle‘s chief scout Steve Nickson and was on the club’s radar in the previous summer, only for the budget to be spent entirely on Joe Willock pricing Steve Bruce out of a move.

But they’re not the only ones keeping tabs on Nketiah, whose departure in this window presents Arsenal with their last chance of securing a certain figure for his signature.

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