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Fee and personal terms agreed: Arsenal set to complete £23.5m double swoop

By on June 30, 2021

According to various reports, Arsenal have agreed a deal to sign Benfica left-back Nuno Tavares and are also closing-in on a move for Anderlecht midfielder Albert Lokonga.

Mikel Arteta needs to overhaul the squad after another poor season that saw us miss out on European qualification for the first time in 25 years and it appears the club are targeting younger players who can develop under the Spanish coach.

Arsenal are in the market for a new left-back to act as support for Kieran Tierney next season as the Scot has had his injury issues and Sead Kolasinac is expected to secure a move away from the Emirates this summer.

Tavares has emerged as a prime target with widespread reports suggesting we’ve been in talks with Benfica over a move for the 21-year-old and the Mirror says Arsenal are now set to sign the youngster in a £6.5m deal.

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano also confirms that Arsenal have an agreement in place with Benfica to sign Tavares with the full-back set to sign a five-year contract after agreeing personal terms.

Tavares is a product of the Benfica youth system and has made 41 appearances since breaking into the first team set-up while he’s also represented Portugal at Under-21 level.

He won’t expect to be a first team regular at Arsenal just yet so he should be happy to act as back-up to Tierney and gain some experience in the domestic cups so this could be a shrewd piece of business by the club.

Lokonga also close

We’re also in the market for midfield reinforcements as Granit Xhaka, Joe Willock, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi are all expected to leave Arsenal this summer while Dani Ceballos and Martin Odegaard have returned to Madrid.

Lokonga has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal this month and the Mirror says we’re now closing-in on a deal to sign the Anderlecht youngster in a deal believed to be worth around £17m.

The 22-year-old is one of the most highly-rated young players in Belgian football having impressed since breaking into the Anderlecht first team and he was named on the stand-by list for the Belgium squad ahead of Euro 2020.

Fabrizio Romano says personal terms have also been agreed with Lokonga’s camp so it looks as though Arsenal are set to wrap-up two deals worth around £23.5m for two talented youngsters.

It’s difficult to see Tavares and Lokonga strengthening the Arsenal first team next season, which is obviously a concern, but at least it’s good to see the club investing in top class youngsters instead of buying old cast-offs from our rivals [Willian!].