Arsenal under scrutiny following £15m agreement as Mikel Arteta targets late window push

Liverpool are reportedly close to agreeing a deal with Lyon to see midfielder Tyler Morton leave for around £15million. It comes as Arsenal have looked to try and move on some of their fringe players but have so far struggled while the club's sales reputation remains under scrutiny.

Edu Gaspar, the former sporting director, went some way in 2024 to improving the club's standing in the market after close to £90million was secured with the sales of Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, and Aaron Ramsdale. All have sell-on clauses believed to be attached and the latter of whom has now joined Newcastle on loan with an option to buy that the Gunners could yet benefit from even more.

However, this summer the only sales have come from a pre-agreed obligatory purchase clause of Nuno Tavares' loan to Lazio for around €5million (£4.3million) with a significant sell-on clause and Marquinhos, who joined Cruzeiro for around €3million (£2.6million). There remain several surplus players that ideally need to be moved on, including Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson, Karl Hein, and Albert Sambi Lokonga, in addition to the potential sale of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Leandro Trossard.

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However, the transfer fees for all bar Hein and potentially Nelson are expected to fall between £10million and £20million. Fans have looked to a player in Morton, who, at 22, made just five appearances for Liverpool last season after the previous campaign on loan with Hull City, yet he is set to bring in more than the majority of the club's expected exits this window.

Andrea Berta, the new sporting director, has already shown his ability to bring in players of calibre efficiently, quickly, and for a good price; however, we have yet to see the Italian's shrewdness in the outgoing market. Granted, the players mentioned on the transfer list are far likelier to move in August, but with the final month of the window now here, the clock is ticking.

Furthermore, Arsenal's hopes of a move for Eberechi Eze and potentially a left winger are believed to hinge on the outgoing business, which is now Berta's focus. With the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, and even Manchester City looking to bring in big funds for players, the Gunners remain lagging behind in this regard.

Yet it does again come down to the age-old saying that you can't sell what no one wants to buy. Until they find suitors for their surplus players, Arsenal will remain in a purgatorial state of waiting for that interest to materialise, which again will likely be at the end of the window.