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Arsenal set to have big-money offer accepted as Emery looks to kick-off summer spree

By on June 7, 2019

According to reports in Italy via the Daily Star, Arsenal are set to see an improved £44m offer accepted by Sampdoria for Joachim Andersen and Dennis Praet.

Unai Emery knows he needs to overhaul the squad this summer after we finished fifth in the league and were thrashed 4-1 by Chelsea in the Europa League final so there should be plenty of incomings and outgoings over the coming weeks.

The Gunners boss will be working on a tight budget after we missed out on Champions League qualification but we’re still expected to be extremely active in the market with Emery needing to strengthen in several key areas.

A new centre-back is on the agenda as Shkodran Mustafi is being linked with a move away while Laurent Koscielny may also leave as he has one year left on his contract and it seems Andersen has emerged as a target.

The Danish international has been one of the best young defenders in Italian football since joining Sampdoria from FC Twente two years ago so he would be an exciting long-term replacement for Koscielny if we could get a deal agreed.

Arsenal also need a new central midfielder as Aaron Ramsey is off to Juventus and Praet has also been touted as a prime target after starring for Sampdoria since joining the club in 2016.

We formalised our interest in Andersen and Praet after reportedly submitting an opening £37m bid for the pair last week but that offer fell short of Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero’s valuation.

However, the Daily Star are citing a report from SampNews24 that claims Arsenal are ‘hours away’ from tabling an improved offer worth £44m and that’s expected to be enough to satisfy the Sampdoria supremo and persuade him to cash-in.

The Italian publication have a solid track record with Sampdoria-related transfer news as they were the first to confirm that Lucas Torreira was joining Arsenal last summer so there should be some truth to this latest story.

However, while it’s obviously positive news that Arsenal could be on the verge of having a £44m double bid accepted for two fine players, there is still a lot of work to do as SampNews24 says Tottenham could yet hijack our move for Andersen as they’re also interested in the defender.

We’ll have to see how Tottenham’s reported interest changes things but I hope Arsenal manage to get this double deal over the line as Andersen and Praet would be solid additions to the squad.