We're just four days away from the start of the Premier League season and it has already been a big summer for Arsenal. The Gunners have stormed their way through pre-season, winning six games and scoring 26 goals along the way.
This has been bolstered by the summer arrivals of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko who have both had an instant impact on the first team. Matt Turner and Marquinhos have also arrived, while Fabio Vieira is still yet to make his Gunners debut as he continues to recover from a foot problem. William Saliba has also bolstered the Gunners' defence following his return from a loan spell at Marseille bringing some much-needed depth to a squad that looked pretty thin for the second half of last season.
Now though Edu's focus has shifted primarily to outgoings with Bernd Leno, Lucas Torreira, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Hector Bellerin, Pablo Mari, Runar Alex Runarsson all among those who could leave before the window shuts. There is still some room for potential arrivals though with Youri Tielemans a target. This sets us up for an exciting curtain raiser against Crystal Palace on Friday, and ahead of the match football.london's Arsenal writer Kaya Kaynak sat down for a Q&A with Gunners fans to talk through the big topics at the Emirates right now. Here are some of the highlights.
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Given the difficulties of getting the Leno deal over the line, how likely are we to see further exits before the end of the window?
KK: Hey, thanks for the question! I think we'll see a fair few more although it's difficult to say anything too general on this as each move is pretty much a case-by-case basis. Bernd Leno should complete his move to Fulham soon, while Lucas Torreira has attracted plenty of interest and the club are looking to find solutions for Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Nicolas Pepe, Runar Alex Runarsson and Hector Bellerin. Edu has already spoken to football.london about the difficulties of selling these types of players. Here's what he had to say.
"When the player is: 26-plus, big salary and he’s not performing? He’s killing you that kind of player. Because you don’t have a valuation to sell the player, the player is comfortable – Arsenal, London, beautiful everything is fantastic – and a good salary. How do you move this player?"
You can read that full interview here.
Any update on the Saliba contract situation?
KK: Hi thanks for the question! Arsenal are very keen to get William Saliba tied down to a new deal as soon as possible. He has really impressed Mikel Arteta in pre-season with how quickly he has been able to adapt to the tactical demands with Arsenal, and how confident he has looked in the process. Talks have taken place with Saliba's camp and the topic of a new deal has been broached. Ideally, Edu will look to wrap things up quickly, but with so much to do elsewhere this summer, it remains to be seen when everything will be finalised.
What about Tielemans situation?
KK: Hi, thanks for the question! So far not too much has changed regarding Tielemans. Arsenal still hold an interest in the player, the player still holds an interest in Arsenal, but as things stand no bid has been officially made. Arsenal do of course have plenty of midfielders right now. Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Lucas Torreira seem to be on their way out, which will reduce the number, but after that they would still have at least two players for every position in the centre. People within the club have also been really impressed with how Albert Sambi Lokonga has done in the '8' role in pre-season, while youngsters like Charlie Patino are hoping to make the set-up. Safe to say the situation with that deal is very fluid at the moment.
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