Arsenal’s Sporting Director Edu has confirmed his club’s plans on transfer deadline day will centre on trimming Mikel Arteta’s first team squad.
The Gunners have spent over £200million this in an attempt to arm Mikel Arteta with the tools required to go one better than last season and topple .
Arsenal made , briefly, the most expensive player in British football by paying £105m for the England international’s signature, while Kai Havertz also represented a significant purchase with the Germany international joining from Chelsea in a £65m deal.
Arteta’s hopes of ending Arsenal’s 20-year wait for the Premier League title were severely damaged on the opening weekend of the campaign , but competition for the No.1 jersey is as fierce as ever with David Raya having arrived from Brentford to challenge Aaron Ramsdale’s position.
It looks unlikely, therefore, that Arsenal will spend on the final day of the window and instead look to recoup some of the money they have shelled out over the course of a hectic summer.
, Edu said: ‘As everyone saw, we made a strong strategy to be very proactive at the beginning of the transfer window and I think we did it.
‘Now we are talking about trying to balance the squad a little bit better.
‘We keep talking to a few clubs, but so far, we are really happy with the transfer window and we have to say thank you very much to all the people that work at the club to make that happen – good, exciting season ahead for us!’
Nuno Tavares represents one of the likelier players to leave before the window slams shut with Nottingham Forest poised to take the versatile defender on a season-long loan.
The futures of fringe players Rob Holding, Cedric Soares and Albert Sambi Lokonga are also likely to be resolved.
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