The Gunners are closing in on three deals as Unai Emery’s squad begins to take shape. Arsenal have already signed Stephan Lichtsteiner from Juventus on a free transfer. And now they are set to close out deals for Lucas Torreira, Bernd Leno and Sokratis Papastathopoulos, according to the Evening Standard. Torreira will cost £26m from Sampdoria, Leno £20m from Bayer Leverkusen and Sokratis will be £16m from Borussia Dortmund. Arsenal set their transfer budget at around £50m for the summer after appointing Emery to replace Arsene Wenger.
But that figure will be added to when taking in player sales with Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez likely to leave. There is also expected to be interest in Hector Bellerin, although nothing concrete yet. Emery is meeting Jack Wilshere this week to discuss his future with his contract up later this month. Aaron Ramsey is also set for talks over a new deal with just 12 months left on his. Emery would like another central defender to go with Sokratis as Laurent Koscileny will miss the start of the season and Calum Chambers could leave.
New Arsenal boss Emery wants to give Petr Cech competition with Leno highly-rated by bigwigs at the Emirates. The former Chelsea goalkeeper has just one year left on his current contract. German outlet SportBild say Arsenal have moved quickly for Leno with the signing likely to happen imminently. The Leverkusen shot-stopper narrowly missed out on a World Cup place with Germany meaning a transfer will be easier to complete. Leno kept 12 clean sheets in all competitions for the Bundesliga side last season. Leverkusen are said to want a minimum of £17.5m for the goalkeeper, according to the reports.
Will these signings happen? Time will tell.