‘There’s a sense of confidence’ – Arsenal’s summer transfer approach revealed amid Martin Zubimendi deal

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Arsenal are confident about conducting their summer transfer business early in the window, Arsenal Insider sources understand.

The Gunners will be in the market for a striker, a wide player, a midfielder and a backup goalkeeper, in what could be a busy few months at the Emirates.

Kai Havertz is out for the season with a hamstring injury, joining Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli on the sidelines, sparking criticism of the North Londoners’ approach to the January window.

However, Arsenal didn’t want to scupper their summer plans by making a rash decision in the winter, and these summer plans are already in action as the club look to wrap their business up early.

• READ MORE: Arsenal have ‘done work’ on six different wingers ahead of summer transfer – one is in the Ballon d’Or conversation

Arsenal are looking to do business early in the summer transfer window

Reports emerged in early January that Arsenal are expected to sign Martin Zubimendi this summer, with the club agreeing personal terms with the midfielder and likely to trigger his £51 million release clause.

Zubimendi will likely replace the departing Thomas Partey and Jorginho in Mikel Arteta’s ensemble, with the Gunners acting early to secure a replacement for the veteran midfielders.

This is how Arsenal plan to conduct the rest of their business, quickly and efficiently, to ensure the Spaniard’s squad is in order come pre-season.

Speaking to Arsenal Insider, TBR Football’s Graeme Bailey provided some insight into how the North London club are looking to approach the window.

“There is a sense of confidence about what they’re doing,” Bailey said.

“Obviously the Havertz injury, I think they’d point at that one and say, ‘if you lose a player to injury, there’s very few teams in the country who could cope with that’, so Arsenal just see it as unfortunate really.

“They didn’t really want to bring a makeweight in who wasn’t going to be right for the club. But I think they’re very happy about how the summer’s panning out and how it’s looking.

“They don’t want to spend all summer looking for these players. I think they’re working hard as we speak to try and get these deals for players, which is why we saw the initial conversations for Zubimendi in January.”

“They don’t want to be spending all of June, July and August chasing players.”

Zubimendi will likely arrive as the club’s first addition, while Joan Garcia could be acquired as the deputy to David Raya.

After that, attention will turn to reinforcing the forward department which will be without Jesus for some time, as well as Raheem Sterling, who won’t sign from Chelsea permanently.

Alexander Isak and Benjamin Sesko are Arsenal’s top striker targets

There’s been significant speculation about who Arsenal will target up front, but the most prominent names in the discourse are the most likely to arrive in N5.

“As we know, Isak and Sesko are the main two, I would be very surprised if it wasn’t one of those two who came in,” Bailey told Arsenal Insider.

Arsenal are expected to bid for Alexander Isak, although Newcastle’s excessive demands may make the signing of the Swede implausible.

Thus, Benjamin Sesko is also firmly on the Gunners’ radar in case they can’t land the Magpies’ talisman.

However, Bailey didn’t rule out the prospect of an alternative, with Eintracht Frankfurt forward Huge Ekitike also being considered.

“There are obviously alternatives being explored. Ekitike has had a good season, they’re aware of that.

“Eiktike is a player that is well known to the Premier League. Newcastle were following him before he went to PSG.

“I know he’s played a lot centrally for Frankfurt, but as we saw at Reims and PSG, he can play out wide as well. We know Arsenal want a wide man as well, he could be a possibility for that. I wouldn’t rule it out.”