How Arsenal could line up with Christian Nørgaard
Arsenal are lining up Brentford midfielder Christian Nørgaard as their first transfer of the summer with the Dane set to cost around £10m.
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The Gunners are yet to make a signing but have also been linked to Martin Zubimendi and Benjamin Sesko.
Reports on Friday suggested that Nørgaard could replace Thomas Partey at the base of midfield. Jorginho has already left the side and others could follow him out of the door.
According to multiple sources, the Gunners are closing in on midfielder Zubimendi and striker Sesko to bolster their squad after another trophyless campaign.
Mikel Arteta’s side are in need of a source of goals with no player hitting double figures in the league despite boasting the Premier League’s tightest defence.
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Arsenal are hoping Sesko can rival a returning Kai Havertz for a place at the focal point of the attack. The German forward’s injury issues forced the Gunners to field Mikel Merino as a makeshift striker towards the end of the season.
Real Sociedad midfielder Zubimendi, a former team mate of Merino, would help provide stability with the North London side tipped to lose the experienced Partey.
Reports suggest that Spaniard Zubimendi will cost £51m while RB Leipzig striker Sesko, who has 41 caps for Slovenia, could come with a £70m price tag.
Former Arsenal captain William Gallas told the Express that Arteta will need high calibre players if they are to be within touch of dominant league winners Liverpool next term.
The French former centre back said: "Mikel Arteta knows that the next step is a clear objective, which is to win the Premier League. To lift a major trophy. The next step is to get his squad ready for that.
"He needs to have the right players to do that. Right now, he has some of the right ones, of course, but they're still missing something and everyone knows they are coming up short.
"So maybe now, finally, they're going to do what has to be done and spend big on a proven striker. They're going to need to get a reliable and prolific scorer and then the pressure shifts back on to Arteta.”
Raheem Sterling and Kieran Tierney are already on their way out of the Emirates while Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus is also thought to be packing his bags as is Oleksandr Zinchenko.