Arsenal Miss Four Forward Targets Despite Summer Push — SkimNews
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- Arsenal pursued four high-profile targets — Morgan Rogers, Bradley Barcola, Julian Alvarez, and Vinicius Jr — but failed to sign any of them in the summer transfer window.
- Real Madrid outbid Arsenal for Vinicius Jr, offering the winger a larger contract package after Arsenal's interest became public, though the club briefly believed a deal was close.
- Arsenal held firm on an £80m valuation of Morgan Rogers; Chelsea then paid £117m to sign the former Aston Villa forward, leaving Julian Alvarez as the only realistic remaining target.
- Julian Alvarez returned to Atletico Madrid training after Arsenal's deal collapsed, despite Arteta personally presenting plans to convince the forward, with Atletico refusing to negotiate with Barcelona.
- Arsenal instead signed Bruno Guimaraes (£75m), Ezri Konsa (£55m), Piero Hincapie (£34.5m permanent) and Christos Tzolis (£34m), while selling Gabriel Martinelli (~£60m to Al-Hilal), Trossard (£15.3m to Besiktas), Norgaard (£7m), and Jesus (£12.8m).
- Viktor Gyokeres scored 21 goals in his first Arsenal season but has yet to play a minute of the opening two Premier League matches, with the source noting his suitability for Arteta's system remains in question.
- Eberechi Eze is set to fill the left-wing role vacated by Martinelli and Trossard, a position he impressed in during Arsenal's win over Aston Villa on Monday.
Why it matters: Arsenal's title defense now rests on Gyokeres — who has yet to feature in the Premier League this season — and Eze shifting to an unfamiliar left-wing role, after the club sold two left wingers without replacing either with a like-for-like forward. Chief executive Richard Garlick acknowledged the pool of elite available players is smaller than in past years, framing the misses as a market reality rather than a strategic failure.
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