While fellow top six clubs have completed signings in the transfer market, Arsenal have still not made a new addition to their squad. Champions Liverpool recently signed Kostas Tsimikas with City having signed Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake. Back home in London, Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech have joined Chelsea while Spurs completed the transfer of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg a few days ago
Ahead of the commencement of a new season, teams are already making preparation into order to improve on the performance in the previous season.
The new season starts on September 12
The coronavirus pandemic has meant the 2019-20 Premier League season has ended much later than usual. Play halted in March and didn’t resume until June 17, after a 100-day break, with no fans allowed into stadiums to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. The Premier League organised 92 games over the six-week period to ensure the completion of the league.
The Premier League decided that a seven-week break will be enough for top-flight teams to get turned around and ready to go again. A statement on the association’s official website read:
“Premier League Shareholders today agreed to start the 2020-21 Premier League season on 12 September 2020. The final match round of the campaign will take place on 23 May 2021.”
Who could Arsenal bring in before then?
The Gunners are expected to finalize the signing of Willian soon from Chelsea on a free transfer. The Brazilian has confirmed that he will be leaving Stamford Bridge after seven years at the club.
Willian’s impending arrival may now cool interest in Philippe Coutinho. The ex-Liverpool man has been linked with a switch to North London but Arsenal may now pull the plug on the deal.
Thomas Partey of Atletico Madrid is also a target although Arsenal may have been put off by the Los Rojiblancos’ affirmation that they pay his full release clause of £44.8m.
Elsewhere, a defensive reinforcement in Lille’s Gabriel Magalhaes could also he headed to the Emirates as Arteta seeks to fix the weakest department in his team ahead of next season.
While the start of the new season does not necessarily signify the end of the window, Arsenal will be keen on starting the season with major squad issues fixed already. They are deficient in both quality and depth and will need to act fast so as to cope with their domestic and European commitments.
If they fail to do so, they may start the season falling behind to their major rivals by a margin they may never recover throughout the course of the season.
