Deal Completed: Arsenal finally completes the deal to sign top-class attacker on six-years deal as the superstar is welcomed with a banger squad number- He’ll start against Tottenham this week

With talents such as Max Dowman and Ethan Nwaneri breaking onto the scene, Arsenal are primed for many years of success and excitement at the forefront of domestic and European football.

But, for now, Mikel Arteta is thinking in the present, and he knows that these prodigious youngsters must be eased onto the senior stage. That’s why he has been so focused on signing superstars to improve his Gunners squad this summer.

Arsenal have finished second across the past three Premier League terms, but there’s no question that this team has made considerable gains since the Spaniard took to the dugout five years ago.

Now, the likes of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard need to spearhead this project toward silverware, crowning a golden era with something tangible.

The £63m acquisition of Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres, one of the most feared centre-forwards in Europe, has certainly inched the club that step closer, but a creative winger is sought-after too.

Arsenal lining up new winger

Arsenal are pushing to sign Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze, who has a £68m release clause.

A principal agreement for the base layer of that clause has been agreed, but details remain before technical director Andrea Berta steers the deal across the finish line.

Eze operates across multiple attacking berths. His high-speed, fleet-footed dribbling makes him apt to star out on the left, although he has typically been played as a central midfielder with a license to roam while with the Eagles.

The 27-year-old might not be the out-and-out winger that Arsenal need, perhaps even bearing a skill set that could see such a player join the crew alongside him in the coming weeks.

Well, The Athletic have reported that both Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard, who came under fire at times last term for their performances, may be sold before the summer is up.

As such, it might be wise for Berta to consider signing another left-sided forward, who could sign in Eze’s stead or indeed cohabit with the Three Lions star in the Arsenal squad.

Arsenal lining up Eze alternative

According to transfer reporter Ben Jacobs, Arsenal are still monitoring the situation of Xavi Simons, with the RB Leipzig player expected to sign for a new club this summer.

Simons, 22, is one of the best young playmakers in Europe, and he’s versatile besides. Chelsea are engaged in talks with the Bundesliga side, but Arsenal and Bayern Munich remain interested. He is expected to cost around £56m.

It won’t be an easy one to pull off. Chelsea are indeed the frontrunners to sign the Netherlands international, so the Gunners will need to get a move on if they hope to steal ahead.

Why Arsenal should sign Xavi Simons
Formerly a prospect at Paris Saint-Germain, Simons arrived in Leipzig as a loanee at the start of the 2023/24 season before signing permanently in a €50m (£42m) deal.

Across 76 appearances for the Germans, he has scored 21 goals and has supplied 23 assists, operating, like Eze, across central and wide attacking midfield roles. Last season, he was most often found out on the left flank, where he notched nine goal involvements across only 17 outings.

Hailed as a “superstar” by analyst Ben Mattinson, this diminutive Dutchman has the remarkable blend of balance, technical skill and confidence to hit the ground running in the Premier League, sure to thrive where Eze would have at the Emirates Stadium, and sure to impress ahead of the aforementioned strugglers on the left flank in north London.

Eze is a little quicker, a tad more active in carrying the ball up and tracking back down. The Englishman likes to get shots off with greater consistency; however, a conversion rate of just 8% in the Premier League leaves plenty to be desired in that department.

In Simons, who has been described as a “special player” by coach Harry Brooks, Arsenal would be signing a potent and dynamic threat who would be the perfect Eze alternative, for he is both positionally and tactically similar.

Moreover, he would prove an upgrade on Arteta’s existing left wingers, who have both struggled to assert themselves thus far during Arsenal’s pre-season and will have undoubtedly provided him food for thought.

Martinelli is a talented winger, but he’s struggled to reach elite levels over the past couple of seasons, hitherto renowned as one of the most exciting up-and-coming forwards.

Across the past two Premier League seasons, he’s bagged himself 14 goals and eight assists across 68 matches. Hardly an awe-inspiring return, having drifted in and out of games and indeed the starting line-up too.

Then, with the 30-year-old Trossard, the boss might be seeking a more talented and complete winger, a fine goalscorer though Trossard may be. Last term, in fact, the Belgian missed more big chances (9) than he scored (8), as per Sofascore, which is the first time that has happened in five top-flight seasons.

It’s clear that Simons, a rising star with a point to prove, could be the perfect addition to an Arsenal side in need of some more creativity to complement Gyokeres up top.

Simons could be the perfect signing, should efforts to reel Eze over prove fruitless.