Arteta ‘wants bombshell statement’ signing Man City star as Gunners close to third deal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta wants to bring Man City striker Julian Alvarez to the Emirates Stadium this summer, according to reports.

The Gunners are looking for a new striker this summer, with Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah scoring just nine Premier League goals between them last season.

Arsenal Academy player Nketiah looks set to leave this summer, with French side Marseille interested in the Englishman and tabling a new offer.

The Athletic Journalist David Ornstein wrote on Tuesday:

Marseille have stepped up their efforts to sign Eddie Nketiah from Arsenal after submitting an improved bid for the striker on Tuesday.

‘The Ligue 1 side’s new offer is worth almost €20m (£16.8m) – a similar figure to their previous proposal but closer to the formula Arsenal want for the striker.

‘Given the considerably higher asking price, Arsenal will likely still consider the offer to be unrealistic; however, Marseille are continuing to work on the situation and the clubs continue to hold talks.

“If they can reach an agreement, the 25-year-old has already signed a five-year contract with Marseille and is keen to join coach Roberto De Zerbi’s side.”

Arteta also appeared to hint at the need for a new striker in the early hours of Thursday after his side lost 2-1 to Liverpool in a pre-season friendly in the United States.

The Arsenal boss, who used Kai Havertz as his main striker on several occasions last season, insists the Gunners need to improve in front of goal.

Arteta said later the defeat to Liverpool: “Obviously we can improve. The game would have been very different if we had scored the first chance we had, but that is the objective.

“It makes a difference when you are in those areas, in those spaces in the box, putting the ball in the back of the net and we created a situation, we had two or three more big open situations to improve, but we didn’t manage it, so we have to improve.”

And now, reports in Spain insist Arteta “wants to make a statement” this summer by signing Man City striker Alvarez as he looks to improve his Arsenal forward line.

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The Gunners are believed to be “preparing a bombshell that would turn the Premier League upside down”, with the Argentine making it “clear he is not happy with the minutes he is getting under (Pep) Guardiola”.

And Arsenal are “willing to fish in troubled waters” this summer, with Alvarez able to “fit perfectly into Arteta’s system” and now the Argentine could follow in the footsteps of Jesus and Zinchenko and swap City for the Gunners.

Arsenal will “have to try really hard” to sign Alvarez this summer, with Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea believed to be among the clubs interested.

Speaking about his future earlier this week, Alvarez told reporters: “There’s a lot of talk.

“I’m focused here (on the Olympics) because it’s a short tournament. At Manchester City I feel very good, I played a lot of minutes.

“But we’ll see after the Games. First, if I can, I’ll take a few days off. Then we’ll decide.”

And Arsenal are close to making their third signing of the summer following the arrivals of David Raya and Riccardo Calafiori, with transfer expert Fabrizio Romano insisting there is an “agreement in place on personal terms” for Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino.

Romano wrote in his Caught offside column: “Arsenal are closing in on a deal with Mikel Merino as a verbal agreement is nearing! Deal in place on personal terms as Merino wants the move. Verbal discussions with Real Sociedad for a package in excess of €30m, negotiations ongoing to get the deal done.”