Arsenal eye massive midfield revamp and keep ‘close eye’ on £43m exciting young winger

A summer of change is taking shape at the Emirates, with bids lodged and word of unexpected outgoings. Mikel Arteta finally turned his team into title challengers last year, but this is the difficult second album and Arsenal are clearly willing to take some chances to make sure that they don’t tail off in the same way they did at the end of the 2022/23 season.

That starts with a major reworking of the midfield. The double pivot of Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey is being broken up, with big money being spent on replacements – not that there isn’t plenty of work to do.

Xhaka was thought to be all but set to move to Bayer Leverkusen for around £13m but with reports of other teams, including Bayern Munich, suddenly showing some interest in the Swiss midfielder, that process has slowed down. Leverkusen still seem the most likely new home for the Arsenal captain, with Kicker claiming personal terms have already been agreed, but it’s all taking a bit longer than originally anticipated.

Thomas Partey, meanwhile, may also be heading for a surprise departure, with The Telegraph reporting that the Ghanian will be on the way if Arsenal can find a willing buyer. No details of which teams might stick their head above the parapets for that one have yet emerged.

All of this will make room not only for Declan Rice, who Arsenal will make a second bid for soon, but also for Brighton’s Moisés Caicedo – the BBC are among the outlets reporting that the expected £100m outlay on Rice won’t stop them from shelling out something in the region of £80m for the Ecuadorian man as well. There is some seriously big cash being slung about by Arsenal this summer.

But the most unexpected arrival could be that of Kai Havertz. The German has had a frustrating time at Chelsea but Arsenal are in talks to sign him, with progress only being slowed by haggling over the price. Chelsea want to make as much of the £80m or so they spent on him back, while Arsenal are keen to spend a little less if possible. The price tag seems to have put Real Madrid and Bayern Munich off, for now at least, leaving Arsenal the favourites for a surprising swoop.

The 3AM Verdict: The base of the midfield was perhaps Arsenal’s weakest point last season, especially in the run-in, so it’s not surprising to see a significant investment being made to boost the team and try and close the gap to Manchester City – but Kai Havertz would definitely be a leftfield signing. He’s a natural number ten so would be directly competing with Martin Ødegaard for a starting spot unless Arsenal think he could do a job out wide to supplement Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, or even up front – not that playing as a striker has panned out especially well at Stamford Bridge.

Foxes full-back on his way to the Emirates?

There’s some movement on defensive upgrades too, with Arsenal linked with a move for Leicester City right-back Timothy Castagne by a few outlets, including Inside Futbol, who report that the fee should reach about €15m.

The bad news for the Gunners is that Juventus seem to be pulling ahead in the race to sign the relegated Foxes full-back and Italian football journalist Gianluca Di Marzo reports that “talks are in progress” and that both player and coach Max Allegri are keen on the move – with haggling over the transfer fee the last sticking point.

The 3AM Verdict: If Arsenal want to sign Castagne, they’ll have to move fast – the question is how important they think he really is. Ben White has played well at right-back but the Belgian is undeniably a better attacking full-back, and it may be that Arteta wants to increase production in the final third with a more aggressive signing. As it stands, however, they may have to look elsewhere unless they pull their finger out.

Livewire Williams on the radar

Another recent rumour has Arsenal in the market for some attacking reinforcements, with Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams on the radar – and the 20-year-old right winger has a £43m release clause which the Gunners could activate.

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The Boot Room say that Arsenal are “keeping a close eye” on the Spanish youngster, who can also play on the left and notched up nine goals in 43 domestic appearances this season – and also made his international debut in the surprise defeat to Scotland.

The 3AM Verdict: Real Madrid are also keeping an eye on proceedings and no formal talks have been opened yet, but the young livewire would be a very exciting attacking addition. He’s got plenty of pace and a silky touch, and while he’s a relatively raw prospect a lot of good judges think he’ll go a very long way indeed. Whether they have the cash to get involved once they get the midfield sorted is another question…