Source claims Edu desires £60 million. Crystal Palace man at Arsenal with three stars in mind to compensate for unlucky loss
Arsenal could consider moves for three defenders in the January transfer window with speculation being addressed over their interest in Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi as a would-be replacement for Jurrien Timber. The Gunners spent lavishly over the summer as they look to build on last season’s second-place finish in the Premier League. Indeed, they parted with the best part of £210m as Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Timber and goalkeeper David Raya, the latter on an initial season-long loan, were brought to Emirates Stadium. However, boss Mikel Arteta is already one newbie down after seeing Timber suffer what appears a cruel season-ending ACL injury on debut against Nottingham Forest.
The Dutchman’s rehabilitation is already underway following a procedure to repair the damage and it looks touch and go if Arsenal will see the £38m signing from Ajax in action again this season. With his absence throwing Arteta’s plans into disarray, it was speculated that Arsenal would look to the market to bring in a replacement for the unfortunate star. Indeed, Charles Watts revealed that sporting director Edu was actively pursuing a number of potential options late in the window.
And while Arsenal spent the last few weeks of the window offloading a series of unwanted stars, with the likes of Folarin Balogun, Matt Turner and Kieran Tierney all departing, it was ultimately decided that Arsenal did not have the required funds to stay within FFP limitations to make a further addition.
However, their plan to strengthen their defence will come under review again ahead of the January window. Without wishing time away, that opens for business in just 118 days, and preparations for that window are already underway.
