Arsenal's new sporting director sets sights on landmark £63m signing as Aston Villa eye rising La Liga star

It’s time for Wednesday’s round-up of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours – and among today’s stories, we’ve got plenty to interest Arsenal fans as well as stories for supporters of Wolves, Aston Villa and more. Let’s crack on…

Let’s start down at the Emirates. Arsenal have recently Andrea Berta as their new sporting director and TBR Football claim to have the inside track on one of his transfer targets – Wolves striker Matheus Cunha, who has Berta’s “admiration”, with Arsenal’s new transfer boss “a huge fan” of the Brazilian.

Berta bought Cunha for Hertha Berlin four years ago before he joined Wolves, and given that Arsenal reportedly made a move for him in January it seems as though history could easily repeat itself.

It’s claimed that Berta “confirmed his fondness for Cunha” during talks over his new job and if that’s true, it certainly hints that the Gunners could trigger the Wolves man’s £63m release clause this summer.

The 3AM Verdict: It’s possible, of course, that this report is just putting two and two together - given that Berta happened to have signed Cunha before, a player Arsenal had already expressed interest in, it’s a logical connection (and guess) to make. But if there’s something behind it, we’ll find out soon enough, as there is no way that Arsenal get through the summer without signing a striker again.

Arsenal could also beat Barcelona to signing

More Arsenal news now, only this time it won’t upset fans of any other Premier League clubs – Sport Witness have picked up on stories from Catalonia which suggest that Arsenal are “in pole position” to add Espanyol goalkeeper Joan García to their ranks despite the interest of Barcelona.

Apparently, Arsenal came close to triggering his €30m (£25.3m) release clause last summer but ended up offering a little less and having their bid turned down – presumably, García was targeted for Neto’s role.

The report admits that it’s “debatable” as to whether García would be prepared to move to the Emirates to be David Raya’s back-up, but Barcelona may only make him their third choice. At least he wouldn’t have to move house.

The 3AM Verdict: Barcelona do some baffling things in the transfer market these days, but spending £25m on a third-choice goalkeeper is surely something even Joan Laporta can see would be a bad idea. Will Arsenal make a move? We’ll find out, but if Mikel Arteta isn’t convinced by Neto after the Bournemouth man’s loan, don’t be surprised if he invests again between the sticks.

Villa ‘keen’ on Inter Milan target

For our final story of the day, we’ll turn to Give Me Sport, who alleged that Aston Villa are “keen on” Real Sociedad right-back Jon Aramburu – along with Inter Milan, who see him as a successor to Denzel Dumfries.

It’s even suggested that Villa bid for the 22-year-old Venezuelan in January but instead ended up signing Andrés Garcia, not something which will stop them from making another move in the summer transfer window.

According to the report, Aramburu is valued at around €15m (£12.7m), a price point which could be “enticing” for Villa as they look to find competition (or even a replacement) for Matty Cash.

The 3AM Verdict: Aramburu is an excellent defender who is racking up tackles in La Liga, but he hasn’t developed his attacking game much yet and we suspect that Unai Emery would want a defender who’s a little more aggressive – but we could be proven wrong, of course…