RB Leipzig midfielder Emil Forsberg could become Arsenal’s first signing since the appointment of Unai Emery as manager. Valued at £47m, the Swedish “anti-Zlatan” has also got antennae twitching at Atlético Madrid and Juventus. Freiburg’s Turkish defender Caglar Soyuncu has revealed that Arsenal are after him too and has said he’ll hold talks with the club in the coming weeks. Soyoncu will cost around £35m, while the Gunners also have Juventus full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner lined up in their cross-hairs. The Swiss international is available on a free transfer from 1 July and Arsenal are reported to have a deal in place to sign him.

Arsenal expect to make Borussia Dortmund star Sokratis Papastathopoulos their first signing of the summer. The Daily Mail claim a deal looks set to be done for around £15m. It is said the Gunners have also held talks with Freiburg over Caglar Soyuncu but his £30m price tag has put the north Londoners off. West Brom’s Jonny Evans is another option that Arsenal are looking into. Arsenal will face stiff competition for Nice star and top target Jean Michael Seri. A host of Premier League clubs have been linked with the French midfielder recently. And now The Sun claim Napoli and Borussia Dortmund have entered the fray. Seri – who has a tantalising £35m release clause – still reportedly fancies a move to Arsenal though.

Former Gunner Martin Keown insists Unai Emery must first focus on improving Arsenal’s defence – either in the transfer market or on the training ground. Keown told the Daily Mail: “He has to assess whether Arsenal’s central defenders are good enough for him. “Laurent Koscielny is out for six months, Per Mertesacker has retired, Shkodran Mustafi has had a difficult season and he also has two young defenders in Rob Holding and Calum Chambers. “There will have to be a different message with more emphasis on defence than attack.