A round-up of the latest Arsenal news as Ollie Watkins opens up on his conversation with Declan Rice and a transfer target’s dad hints he has agreed to join the Gunners.
Arsenal will make Joshua Zirkzee a starter to beat Aston Villa to his transfer
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is now ready to offer Joshua Zirkzee a starting role at Emirates Stadium to beat Aston Villa to his transfer from Bologna. That is according to Calciomercato, which reports that the Villans have joined the Gunners, plus Manchester United, in the race.
Zirkzee is also subject to interest from AC Milan and Juventus but Arsenal stand at the front of the queue. The Gunners currently head their competition as Arteta is prepared to offer a starting role. Arsenal have also tabled a €6m-a-year (£99k-a/w) net deal to entice Zirkzee.
Arsenal know that Zirkzee is happy in Italy and prepared to stay in Serie A. So, the Gunners tabled a deal worth excessively more than his €900k-a-year (£15k-a/w) terms with Bologna. The 22-year-old has scored 11 and assisted five goals over his 32 top-flight games this term.
Read more about Arsenal’s interest in Zirkzee’s summer transfer from Bologna, here.
Ferdi Kadioglu’s dad hints the Fenerbahce defender is signing for Arsenal
Feyzullah Kadioglu, the dad of Ferdi Kadioglu, has now hinted that the Fenerbahce defender has agreed a transfer to Arsenal for this summer. That is according to Devrim Zengi, who has told Karar that the left-back overlooked interest from Bayer Leverkusen to join the Gunners.
The Premier League title-chasers and newly-crowned Bundesliga champions both made the 24-year-old offers. But Kadioglu has opted to accept the approach from Arsenal as manager Mikel Arteta seeks an upgrade at left-back. The Turkey star can add a fresh attacking threat.
Kadioglu is a versatile wing-back capable of playing from either side of the defence. He has also provided three goals and five assists through 47 appearances this season. Arsenal also explored Kadioglu’s transfer in January but have now decided to go ahead with their move.
Read more about what Kadioglu’s dad has said about a transfer to Arsenal, here.
Arsenal target Ollie Watkins opens up on his conversation with Declan Rice
Arsenal target Ollie Watkins has now opened up on the Aston Villa star’s conversations with Declan Rice while on England duty. Gareth Southgate named Watkins in his last Three Lions squad and even afforded the 28-year-old only his fourth start through 11 caps against Brazil.
Watkins failed to score his fourth goal for England but has been sublime so far this season at Villa Park. The striker has scored and created freely in his games to see Edu add Watkins to Arsenal’s transfer shortlist, per the Daily Mail, but Aston Villa will demand more than £70m.
The Torquay natives’ goals even fired the Villans from the qualifiers to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League. Now, Watkins has also revealed that Rice, plus West Ham United winger Jarrod Bowen, expect Aston Villa will go on to win UEFA’s third-string trophy.
“I spoke to Dec and I spoke to Jarrod Bowen at England and they said, ‘Yeah, you boys are’,” Watkins told TNT Sports. “They were confident that we’re going to win it. We’re confident ourselves but you never know what’s going to happen.”
Rice and Bowen know what it takes to win the Europa Conference League after helping West Ham win it last season for their first major trophy since 1980. Lifting the trophy as the Irons’ captain was also Rice’s final act with West Ham before joining Arsenal in a club-record move.
Read more about what Watkins has said Rice told him in England’s March camp, here.