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Transfer news: Bid made as Arsenal target swoop for £74m duo

By mac14 on July 16, 2021

Arsenal continue to be linked with a number of players throughout Europe as Mikel Arteta looks to strengthen his squad this summer. Today, we look at rumours linking us with Manuel Locatelli and Tammy Abraham.

It’s no secret Arteta is in the market for at least one central midfielder as Arsenal will lose a number of players from last seasons squad. Dani Ceballos and Martin Odegaard have returned to Madrid, Matteo Guendouzi has joined Marseille while Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira are expected to leave.

Arsenal are on the verge of signing Albert Lokonga from Anderlecht but we need another top class midfielder to partner Thomas Partey next season and Locatelli has emerged as a serious target in recent weeks.

Sassuolo chief executive Giovanni Carnevali claimed at the start of July that Arsenal had tabled a bid for the Italian international but there was no news that it had been accepted, so we have to assume it was knocked back.

Improved Locatelli bid

However, it looks like we’ve gone back in as beIN Sports journalist Tancredi Palmeri claims Arsenal have submitted a £34m [€40m] bid for Locatelli – which he says is a slight improvement on our previous offer.

There’s no word yet on how Sassuolo have responded to this latest bid but the problem for Arsenal is that Juventus are also chasing Locatelli and the player reportedly favours a move to Turin over London.

We’ll have to hope Juventus are unable to match our £34m offer as if they agree terms with Sassuolo, then it looks likely that the 23-year-old will join the Serie A giants and Arsenal will miss out.

That would be a shame as I think Locatelli would be an excellent signing. We saw at the Euro’s how much quality he has and I think he’d be a superb partner for Partey in the middle of the park.

The next transfer rumour is a little surprising, and worrying, as the Telegraph claims Arsenal are showing an interest in signing Tammy Abraham from Chelsea.

Arsenal eye Abraham

We haven’t really been linked with many strikers this summer as Arteta has several other more important positions to strengthen but it appears the boss may also be hoping to revamp his striking options.

The Telegraph says Arsenal are interested in making a shock move to sign Abraham from Chelsea this summer BUT we’ll have to offload one of our current forwards to be able to afford his £40m price tag.

The most obvious candidate is Alexandre Lacazette. He’s in the last year of his contract and no progress appears to have been made over an extension so rumours suggest Arsenal are open to selling if a suitable offer arrives.

If we can shift Lacazette for a decent fee, then that should help fund a potential move for Abraham. The England striker has fallen out-of-favour under Thomas Tuchel and made just two league appearances during the closing months of last season so it’s no surprise he’s on the market.

However, I personally think we can do a lot better than Abraham as I’m not a fan at all. I’d much rather we kept Lacazette [as long as he signs a new deal] and then give Folarin Balogun a chance next season than waste £40m on another Chelsea reject.

So based on these two reports Arsenal could spend £74m on Locatelli and Abraham. Would you be happy with that business if it happened?