PERFECT LINE-UP: Mikel Arteta’s best Arsenal starting XI if Edu completes £144m triple transfer move

It could be a busy few weeks for Arsenal as Edu and Mikel Arteta look to sign a number of players before the August 30 transfer Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta during the club’s pre-season tour of the United States

Arsenal have announced their second major arrival of the summer as Mikel Arteta’s squad for the 2024/25 season takes shape.

David Raya as the first senior men’s team addition as the goalkeeper made his loan move from Brentford permanent earlier this month with Arsenal paying the Bees around £27million for the Spanish international.  RICCARDO CALAFIORI  became the second major arrival of the summer on Monday with the defender joining from Bologna for an initial fee of £33.7million with up to £4.2million in add ons.

The Italian, who can play at left-back and centre-back, has already trained

Ueafnews.com understands Mikel Arteta  and  Edu are keen on strengthening the squad further between now and the August 30 deadline, with a central midfielder and forward on the list of areas to improve. One player who Arsenal admire is Mikel Merino.

It’s understood the Gunners are exploring a deal to sign the 28-year-old, who contributed to 13 goals in 45 appearances for Real Sociedad last season. The former Osasuna and Newcastle man showcased his abilities further with Spain at Euro 2024 and could be available for around £20million this summer as he has just one year remaining on his contract.

“The next step has to come from within, from me, from analysing myself, seeing what player I am now, where I am and where I want to go. And what is the way to do it,” Merino said last month when asked about his future.

“Now at a football level I still have one more year at Real and I am in the best possible place to live and grow. At the level of rumours, it is something that I do not give importance to because I believe that a Euros is the most important thing you can face and requires 100% of your attention. So when the Euros is over and the days go by, I will meet with the club and my representative, to see what they have to say to me and what they don’t, and we’ll see.”

Merino is currently still on his end of season break following Spain’s Euro 2024 success and talk around his future will likely intensify once he starts pre-season training. With Jorginho and Thomas Partey not getting any younger, Merino could be the final piece to Arteta’s midfield as he would likely slot in next to Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.

Elsewhere, Arsenal are also expected to move for a forward this summer and according to transfer journalist Pedro Almeida the Gunners have made Viktor Gyokeres their main target. The Sporting CP striker scored 43 goals in 50 appearances for the Portuguese side last term and has been linked with a move to Emirates Stadium for some time.

Stay next season? It’s football, it’s normal, I can’t promise anything,” Gyokeres told A Bola in May. “I really like being here, but in football everything happens very fast and we have to adapt. I can’t make so many predictions, it’s difficult, there are still games this season, then we’ll see.”

If Arsenal do sign all three of Calafiori, Merino and Gyokeres it would massively improve Arteta’s squad as he bids to challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title for a third successive season. It would mean spending around £144million but that could be the difference between winning the title or finishing second.

Possible Arsenal XI with Calafiori, Merino and Gyokeres: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Merino, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli.