Following the departure of Edu Gaspar in the summer, Arsenal are now closing in on his replacement, former Atletico Madrid sporting director Andrea Berta.
Under interim sporting director Jason Ayto in January, Arsenal chose against making any short-term signings to solve their attacking issues.
Essentially, Arsenal chose to wait and spend big on a striker in the summer.
Of course, fans in N17 are now very expectant for the summer window – the pressure is certainly on for Arsenal’s transfer team to deliver.
Berta has signed several world-class strikers at Atletico in the past, but it’s not just a number nine he’ll need to find at Arsenal.
Andrea Berta set for ‘big window’ at Arsenal straight away
Sharing his update on X for NBC Sports, journalist David Ornstein provided a good insight to what Berta could be tasked with in the summer.
According to Ornstein, Berta could make as many as five signings to strengthen Arteta’s squad, including a striker as mentioned.
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Ornstein said: “Andrea Berta is 53-years-old, he’s Italian, he’s vastly experienced and I’m sure he’ll work heavily on recruitment, which is the area which all Arsenal fans are focusing at the moment.
“Arsenal in the summer are going to have a big window I’m sure, they’re looking to sign a striker, they would really like to do a deal for Alexander Isak – whether that’s going to be possible we’ll have to wait and see.
“They’ve done a lot of work on Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig too.
“When you go into midfield they’re hoping to complete a deal for Martin Zubimendi with Jorginho and Thomas Partey quite possibly leaving.
“There’s work to do at left-back because they’ll see Kieran Tierney go, maybe Zinchenko as well.
“They’ll need a second choice goalkeeper, they may need a third choice goalkeeper.
“And it will be the role of Andrea Berta to oversee all of that. Their finances are in good shape, and he’ll have to work very closely with Mikel Arteta as manager to deliver.”
Arsenal also have some contract situations to sort
In addition to the signings that are needed at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal also have more than one contract situation that they need to address.
As mentioned, Jorginho and Partey both seem most likely to leave as things stand.
Perhaps the most important is that of Ethan Nwaneri, who has shown just how much potential he has this season.
Fortunately, Nwaneri is set to sign a new deal with Arsenal once he turns 18, a Hale End talent who is already so popular.
But looking forward to 2026, both Takehiro Tomiyasu and Leandro Trossard are set to be out of contract, players who might be on the periphery of plans when it comes to thinking long-term.