Now the dust is beginning to settle on Arsenal’s unsuccessful pursuit of Benjamin Sesko, the club’s transfer plans moving forward have become clearer.
Mikel Arteta isn’t desperate to add a new striker to his squad this summer, a move for Sesko was seen as a market opportunity.
That’s not to say that Arsenal won’t move for another forward – far from it, Edu will seek to take advantage of any situation that arises, but this summer has always been about improving squad depth.
William Saliba played every Premier League minute last season, an unsustainable feat given several other Arsenal players also came close to doing the same.
Arsenal need to add a defender, a versatile profile who can cover a number of positions.
A central midfielder is also on the shortlist, making it slightly odd that Arsenal aren’t thought to be intervening on Juventus’ pursuit of Douglas Luiz right now.
But following the Sesko news on Tuesday, it was soon after reported that Arsenal had been happy to let those Sesko rumours fly, choosing to work quietly behind the scenes.
Arsenal keen to sign Brighton striker Evan Ferguson after missing out on Benjamin Sesko
Although Arsenal aren’t hell-bent on signing a striker as mentioned, it seems they could be eyeing one more opportunity.
According to Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, Arsenal are still interested in signing Brighton & Hove Albion striker Evan Ferguson.
Now 19-years-old, Ferguson has only shown snippets of his talent in the Premier League thus far, making his £100m price tag seem fairly outrageous.
However, as Arsenal have clearly recognised, Ferguson is a ‘special‘ young player with the potential to go right to the top – and signing a player of that echelon won’t come cheap.
It would be a huge surprise if Arsenal got anywhere near that figure when chasing a deal this summer or next, but having missed out on Sesko, Ferguson certainly presents a similar project.
Ian Wright would take Evan Ferguson at Arsenal in a ‘heartbeat’
Just like his Slovenian counterpart, Ferguson would be able to play understudy to Kai Havertz, either coming into the side to start or off of the bench when necessary.
So if Arsenal have added the squad depth they need in other areas of the pitch this summer and then still have some wiggle room with their finances, it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if a Ferguson pursuit began.
Ian Wright has been very vocal about wanting Arsenal to buy Ferguson in the past, a striker who has already scored a Premier League hat-trick.
And speaking of Arteta’s side being in pursuit of young talent, the club president of one Arsenal target has now admitted that his star could leave.