Gunners are selling the captain: Xhaka out, Neves in

After they were infamously beaten by Aston Villa for the Emiliano Buendia signing, Arsenal stepped up their pursuit for a central midfielder, who is the top priority for the sporting director Edu and coach Mikel Arteta, with the duo planning to sign up to five new players. They are also in the process of selling a number of players, with captain Granit Xhaka being first of them all. Also, there is a decision on Ainsley Maitland-Niles to be made, as the midfileder openly challenged coach Arteta to make a decision on his future.

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But let’s start from the most pressing need – a midfielder. Ceballos has left (probably never to return) and will learn about his future with Real from Ancelotti soon, and his team mate Martin Odegaard is facing the same destiny. If the Norwegian is surplus to requirements in Madrid, Arsenal will be looking to make a deal. But after missing on Buendia, the Gunners are not wasting any time. Three options are considered: Ruben Neves from Wolves, Nabil Fekir from Betis, and Sander Berge from the relegated Sheffield United.

“He’s an excellent player. It involves playing with two holding midfielders – not just one – but he’s an excellent player" Guardiola said of Neves back in 2019, and that’s all you need to know about the player. The Portugese is (surprisingly) worth only 5.3 billion per Athletic and with that price represents a bargain. Neves would be a perfect replacement for Xhaka and if you look at the stats column, Neves won 66 tackles in the Premier League which is higher than Kante (57), Liverpool's Thiago Alcantara (43) and Xhaka (37), and also made more interceptions than Xhaka (46-25).

Another potential target is a creative midfielder and a long time target Nabil Fekir, who was close to a move to Arsenal and Liverpool previously after impressing for Lyon, but clubs pulled out of the deal late on due to a pre-existing knee injury. Transfermarkt values him at 3.5 billion Ksh, but how much will Betis actually want for the player is unknown.

The last, but the most expensive signing would be Sheffield United midfielder Sander Berge. Ironically, the Norwegian, who will possibly start the season in the Championship is valued more than already estabished Neves and Fekir – between 4 and 4.5 billion Ksh. On top of that, it is believed that the Blades also want 10-20% sell-on fee so the situation will be tricky.

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But the money could be on the way, as reportedly Roma closing on Gunners captain Granit Xhaka, and should complete the deal by the end of this week. New Giallorossi coach Jose Mourinho specifically requested Xhaka, who will play against Italy for Switzerland at Euro 2020 in Rome, at his future new home – Olimpico stadium.

And one player is anxtious to find out his future with the club, sooner rather than later. Ainsley Maitland-Niles wants a clarification from the coach, but the way he spoke, it seems he is not confident he will stay at the Emirates.

“I want a decision. I want some clarity and then hopefully I can get to work with whoever I need to get to work with. Whether that is finding a new club or whether that is carrying on with my training. I would like some kind of indication of what is happening. If it works out it works out, if it doesn’t then kiss Arsenal goodbye. It’s been a long journey but a proud one at that. If I was to get a phone call from someone at Arsenal and they said they’d like a meeting tomorrow, then it would be easier that way. They can tell me whether they’ve got plans to play me in the future or if they want to sell me. I’ve heard they want to make some space in the squad and some money so I’m not sure" Maitland-Niles told The Telegraph.